Valentines Day

A History Of Valentine’s Day

A History Of Valentine’s Day

The shortest month of February perhaps brings the greatest moments of joy and celebration for every couple across the globe.



This is because of the fêted occasion of Valentines Day that falls on the 14th of this month. Valentines Day or the day of saint valentines is the day of love and affection.

Love is in the air on this day when lovers verbalize the language of their heart and make each other feel thou preciousness.

Just like there is a story or a reason behind every celebration, there are tales associated with the Valentines Day too.

Every year 14th February is cheered with exchange of loads of gifts and feelings. But according to a story actually it is the day when a devotee of love sacrificed his life for this most beautiful feeling which is yet the cause of humanity on earth.

Thousands of years ago in 3rd century B.C there was a saint, Valentine, in Rome. He was a priest in the kingdom of Saint Claudius II.

One fine day the king realized that married men do not turn out to be proficient soldiers for family bonds and relationships weaken them. So in order to have good quality soldiers and a strong military force he outlawed marriage for young men.

But saint Valentine who had throughout his life materialized the feeling of love by tying nuptial bonds opposed the king’s instructions.



He went against his orders and continued coordinating marriages clandestinely. But soon emperor Claudius II got information about it. Consequently he decided to punish saint Valentine by putting him to death on 14th February.

From that day onwards 14th February is memorized as the day that marks eternality of the bond of love and the spirits of all the true lovers.

But this is not the only fable hanging behind Valentines Day. According to another famous one, Valentine was a captive who did fall in love with his jailor’s daughter.

On the day when Valentine was taken to persecution he wrote and left a letter for his girlfriend. That day was 14th February and the love letter had the sign underneath as “Your Valentine”.

Thus this day came to be recognized and celebrated as the Valentines Day. It commenced the tradition of exchange of love letters and other instruments to express one’s feelings of affection.



Though it is very difficult to know the true identity of the man Valentine, it is for sure that he was an idol of love who died but proved that the flame of love can never be extinguished.

Love always stands unbeaten and victorious despite of countless attempts made by people to trounce it and this is the primary cause to rejoice the Valentines Day


Origins of Valentine’s Day

Though theories on pagan traditions are closer explanations of how Valentine’s Day emerged, several people opted the religious theory of February 14’s origin.

A History Of Valentine's Day
A History Of Valentine’s Day

Historical experts—some historians and archaeologists—consider three theories that explain the origins of this universal celebration of love and romance.

However, only two of the three theories link the day to romance. The last involves martyrdom during the pre-Christian era.

The first theory considered by historians is the feast of Lupercalia. On February 14, a day before the real festival of Lupercalia begins; the Romans honored Juno who was the queen and goddess of marriage and women of the Roman mythology.

On the day of festival, Roman women would write love letters and put them in a large urn so that men could choose from. Then, a man would pursue the woman who authored his chosen letter.



The Eastern people’s tradition of exchanging love letters on February 14 is another theory linking romance and Valentine’s Day. During the Middle Ages, the Europeans believed that birds began to mate on February 14.

The third theory, which is well known today, came from archaeologists who uncover an ancient church and Roman catacomb for St. Valentine. Until now, they are not sure how many Valentines there are.

The Catholic Church even recognizes three different saints named Valentine who lived during the third century. All the death of these three Valentines happened on February 14.

The popular one was a Roman priest who practiced Christianity. He celebrated masses and performed marriages against the orders of Emperor Claudius II.

Even at the brink of death, the Roman priest did not deny his beliefs. They say that before his death, he sent a friend a note signed “From your Valentine.” This phrase is until now a famous card message.

Following the course of history, people accepted more the Christian origin of Valentine’s Day rather than the two pagan traditions. Hundreds of years after, St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers and Pope Galasius named February 14 after him.



In 1969 however, Pope Paul VI removed the celebration from the calendar. The martyrdom of the saint and the influence of Roman festival in the history made the celebration of Valentine’s Day exist until today.

Modifications of Valentine’s Day happened as time changed. Before, Valentine’s Day cards were custom-made using colored paper and colored inks. There were pinprick cards, cutout designed letters, rebus valentines, and acrostic valentines to name a few.

The first mass-produced card was decorated with black and white pictures in 1800s. Later on, cards were decorated with silk, lace, flowers, feathers, satin, and sometimes golden leaf.

Because of advanced technology, modern Valentine’s Day card has become sophisticated. At first, manufacturers made greeting post cards until they also developed cards with recorded romantic messages, pop-out images, and love songs.

The introduction of Internet also opened doors for a new way of sending letters. Lovers can now send love letters through electronic mail.

Today, people give chocolates and flowers other than cards. Valentine’s Day is now highly commercialized.


Valentine’s Day — Where Did THAT Come From?

Just as soon as the stores put away their Christmas merchandise, out comes the Valentine’s Day items — even though Valentine’s is still more than six weeks away.

A History Of Valentine's Day
A History Of Valentine’s Day

I don’t know why, but it always takes me by surprise to see Valentine’s Day merchandise so soon after Christmas.

I’ve always wondered where Valentine’s Day came from, and under those circumstances, a person could be forgiven for thinking it was invented to create more business when Christmas is over.

But no, after a little research, I discovered that Valentine’s is not a holiday that was “invented” by greeting card companies to sell more greeting cards or by candy companies to sell more candy or by florists to sell more roses.
Valentine’s Day actually started more than 1,500 years ago.

According to legend, Valentine was a priest who defied the orders of the Roman emperor Claudius and continued to perform marriages.

It seems that Claudius realized no young men wanted to join his army because they didn’t want to leave their wives and sweethearts.

When it was discovered that Valentine was still performing marriages in secret, he was sentenced to death. Valentine allegedly cured the jailer’s daughter of blindness,

and on the night before his execution, sent a note to her signed “from your Valentine.” He reportedly died on Feb. 14, 269 A.D.



In 496 A.D., February 14 was named by Pope Gelasius to honor St. Valentine.

The first Valentines are credited to Charles, Duke of Orleans, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London during the 1400s where he wrote romantic verses that he sent to his wife.

A woman named Esther Howland is credited with sending the first Valentine in the United States.

The United States Postal Service is credited with advancing the popularity of sending Valentines when the penny postcard was introduced in the mid 1800s.

Before that, sending mail was too expensive for the average person, because at the time, the person who RECEIVED the letter paid the postage and not the person who SENT the letter.

Personally, I’m thankful it’s not that way today. Can you imagine paying the postage to receive your Valentines?
In days gone by, Valentines were hand-painted cards decorated with lace and feathers and sequins.



I don’t know about anybody else, but if I were going to hand paint a Valentine and decorate it with lace and feathers and sequins, I wouldn’t go to all that work for just anybody.

Nowadays, however, Valentine’s cards are mass produced in thousands of designs and sizes — large ones and small ones; serious ones and silly ones; inexpensive ones and expensive ones.

The variety of Valentine’s cards is overwhelming and, as far as I’m concerned, rather unnecessary.

I mean, how many Valentine’s cards does one person need to buy?

Spouse?

Parents? Siblings? Second and third cousins?

The teacher you had in fifth grade?

The lady who cuts your hair?

The grocery store clerk who tallied up your last purchase?

The man who stopped his car so you could make it through the crosswalk without being run over?

And what about the Valentine’s merchandise?

The candy, the posters, the teddy bears sporting a red heart that says ‘Be Mine,’ socks with little red hearts all over them, heart-shaped rings, necklaces and earrings, and the list goes on and on.

I wonder what the real St. Valentine would think of the cards and the candy and the jewelry and whatever else?
Then again, maybe the real St.



Valentine would be delighted by this turn of events.
After all, it’s been more than 1,700 years since he died, but every Feb. 14, people are still celebrating Valentine’s Day.

And that puts giving Valentines into a whole new perspective, doesn’t it.
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Valentine Screensavers – Is Love Only For A Day In The Year?

Valentines day comes once in a year. But that does not mean that lovers stop loving each other for the rest of the year. They continue loving each other with the same intensity.

A History Of Valentine's Day
A History Of Valentine’s Day

 

The only difference is that on Valentines Day the love is expressed in different ways and lover overflows more.

Valentine screensavers are designed to express this romantic love. All these screensavers have lovely text, and images.

Every good valentine Screensaver can arouse passion in any one. That is the effect of visuals, text and music. If you wish to keep the passion of love at its peak during all the times, download few Valentines Screensavers on your desktop and watch them all through the year. For a lover, everyday is the Valentines Day.

a lover wants to feel the passion at all the times. A lover wants to feel the heart beating faster at the thought of his beloved at all the times.

A lover wants to be with his/her darling at all the times. Love gives life to one who is in love. That is why I say, download few Valentine Screensavers on your desktop and watch them whenever you want to feel passionate.

Take care to download Valentine Screensavers from a good website so that you avoid any attachments of adware and spyware. Search for free downloads.



Keep the selection to lower file sizes. Download screensavers with music and lovely text. The download should be simple and installation easy.

Do not experiment with many websites. Once you know that a site is offering good free content, keep confined to that. Wish you a great love life.



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