Valentine’s Day: A Celebration of What?
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“Love is in the air!” Valentine’s Day has finally come around and the day greeted us with sunny skies and warm feelings here in the Olympia area. St. Valentine’s Day provides an opportunity for people to celebrate love by giving cards and gifts to their partners, friends, and family, and maybe just receiving cupid’s arrow themselves.
It was first thought that the origin of Valentine’s Day comes from the Roman festival of Lupercalia which celebrates bird mating season as a sign of the beginning of spring. This is where the common phrase “lovebirds” comes from.
Other possible origins connecting Valentine’s Day to the celebration of Spring. Jack Valentine, a Norfolk character, would leave candy on the back doorstep of each house for children during the start of spring. It is thought that this may have started the tradition of sending candies and chocolates to one another.
In Slovenia, Saint Valentine was known as a patron of beekeepers and was the Saint of spring. This was the day that flowers began to grow, and it was believed to be when birds would marry one another once again marking the beginnings of spring.
Saint Valentine’s Day is obviously named for a saint, and there are many legends dating back to ancient Roman times that indicate the subject of the celebration. Many early Christian martyrs had the name Valentine, but two are the most notable. Saint Valentine of Terni and the second saint, Saint Valentine of Rome, who was a priest in ancient Roman times. Known for marrying Christian soldiers who otherwise would be unable to be wed due to a law set in place by a pagan emperor. When these soldiers became challenged by the emperor, it is said that Saint Valentine cut out paper hearts and gifted them to the soldiers and other persecuted Christians to remind them what they were fighting for. He became martyred in the year 269 because he would not convert from Christianity to paganism at the emperor’s request. A legend speaks about the story of his execution as he was said to have cured his jailer’s daughter, Julia, of blindness. Valentine also may have been the first writer of a “Valentine card” as on the day of his execution, he sent a card to Julia whom he had fallen in love with, and signed it, “from your Valentine.” Now cards are signed by ‘Valentines’ marking the day of love.
Cards like this started becoming popular in the 1700s as small handwritten love letters that eventually evolved into becoming formal cards in the following centuries. As paper and postal services became more affordable, the Valentine’s Day card became wildly popular in the 1800s. Valentine’s Day was mostly celebrated in England but became wildly popular in America with the end of the Civil War. The war times had ended, and soldiers returning home made sure to celebrate with their loved ones by including thoughtful cards and literature. In the early 1900s, the creation of the Hallmark Valentine’s card made the day celebrated by almost all. People began sending not only cards but gifts and candies to loved ones in honor of the holiday.
Currently, in the 21st century, we celebrate Valentine’s Day as a time to honor our romantic and platonic devotion to one another. While the exact origin of Valentine’s Day remains unknown, we sure do enjoy the tradition of giving and receiving warm feelings during one of the coldest months in the year. The future of Valentine’s Day remains bright and cheerful as a celebration of the beginning of spring, and our love for each other.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Work Cited
“A History of Valentine’s Day Celebrations – from Fertility Festivals to the First Cards.” History Extra , 12 Feb. 2022, https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/when-was-valentines-day-first-celebrated-cards-history-saint-valentine/.
“Saint Valentine.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine.
“Valentine’s Day.” Wikipedia , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day#:~:text=It%20originated%20as%20a%20Christian,many%20regions%20of%20the%20world.
