The Day of Love and its Origins
This informative article by Teagan McNamara tells of Valentine's history and how the holiday began.
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The Day of Love and its Origins
The Day of Love and its Origins
By Teagan McNamara
Valentine's Day, also known as St. Valentine's Day, is a time of love. Stores and companies relish the season as their favorite time to sell many chocolates, flowers, and stuffed animals. This day is also representative of giving to loved ones. Originating as an ancient Pagan, Roman festival and named after St. Valentine. This holiday became popular in Victorian England and is now celebrated within the United States, as well as many other places around the world.
Originally a Pagan, Roman festival called Lupercalia, Valentine's Day was not a romantic holiday in the beginning. It instead celebrated the cleansing of the city, health, agriculture and fertility. The festival was celebrated on the 15th of February. People would feast, have animal sacrifices and ward off evil spirits. February through the spring is known as a time where animals would mate and reproduce offspring, so randomized matchmaking, sometimes ending in marriage, would occur. According to The History Channel, women would be paired with men by lottery or picked by name from a jar, in a not-very romantic manner. Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, partly influenced the ritual of sacrifice. They were said to be protected by a wolf that saved their lives. The members of Luperci (an order of Roman priests) would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. The hides would be placed on women and put in crop fields. Dipping the hides into the sacrificial blood was said to make women more fertile for the coming year and, additionally, blessed the crops for the upcoming months.
Image Source: India Today
While Valentine's Day is believed to be an offshoot from the Lupercalia festival, history is vague and not always accurate because of confusion regarding where it really originated. Legend says that the holiday got its name from a man named St. Valentine. In third-century Rome, he was a priest and a heroic, romantic figure of his time, inspiring many. He truly believed in love and Christianity. According to Real Simple magazine, the emperor at the time in Rome, Claudius II, needed unmarried men or men without families to serve as soldiers. Claudius thought that this would work best, so he made marriage illegal for young men. Valentine did not like this idea and continued to marry Christians confidentiality. He was even alleged to help Christians escape the cruel prisons in Rome. Valentine was well-known within England and France as a saint, influencing Christianity throughout the area. Valentine was eventually targeted for his actions. Refusing to give up his faith in God or convert to Paganism, Valentine was put to death, beheaded by Claudius ll himself, on Feb. 14, 269 AD. Prior to his death, Valentine wrote to a young girl named Julia, whom he had fallen for. He finished the letter with the words “From your Valentine” and now the phrase is commonly used today.
Image Source: The St. Mary's Inn
The holiday was later Christianized by the late fifth century A.D. by Pope Gelasius I, eradicating Lupercalia, shown in Encyclopedia Britannica. Feb. 14 was then proclaimed as Valentine's Day to honor St. Valentine and his doings. Even so, for a long while, Christians did not celebrate because of the holiday's Pagan roots. The holiday has now become romanticized. The era of Valentine consisted of different religious beliefs and that is why Valentine's history is mixed with both Pagan, Roman and Catholic Christian beliefs. It was a time of rebellion and change in Rome. Valentine inspired Christianity, love and an altered society. With the rise of popularity in the 1800s of Valentines, companies started producing Valentine's cards amongst gifts. Today, some celebrate this holiday for the love of God and/or loved ones.
Many holidays have complicated backgrounds and are much different today than they originally began. The month of February is filled with history, love and, well, sacrifice. It all started with the Lupercalia festival and St. Valentine and is now a more commercial holiday. Yes, Valentine's may be a romantic holiday, but it started with blood and the symbol of blood still represents itself in modern-day Valentine's with red hearts and symbols.
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