Why We Celebrate The Valentine's Day?

As Valentine's Day is connected with romance, the holiday's origins aren't precisely romantic. Here's what you might not know about Valentine's Day's history, as well as the date of Valentine's Day 2022 so you can prepare ahead.

Valentine's Day is a moment synonymous with kissing, presents, and delicate-to- get regale reservations, the vacation's onsets are vastly less romantic. Then is the Valentine's Day history that wouldn't make it into a rom-com, complete with a saint, a butchery, and indeed Valentine's Day's sinful nuns.

What is Valentine’s Day?

First, a reminder: Valentine's Day is always on February 14th. Valentine's Day in 2022 will be on Monday, February 14, whereas Valentine's Day in 2021 was on Sunday. (For those who like to prepare ahead, Valentine's Day in 2023 is Tuesday, February 14.)

Pope Gelasius named February 14th St. Valentine's Day at the end of the fifth century, and it has been a day of celebration ever since—though it was typically more religious or romantic.

How did Valentine’s Day start?

Valentine's Day is a set day on the timetable that was intermingled with Lupercalia, amid-February festivity on the ancient Roman timetable, which some chroniclers believe is how Valentine's Day came to be associated with love. Lupercalia was a fertility jubilee that may have involved a form in which men and women were matched by picking names from a jar. The marriage of the deity Zeus and the goddess Hera was commemorated in Ancient Greece with amid-winter jubilee.

Valentine's Day is a Catholic feast day that was established in the liturgical calendar approximately 500 AD. The day was honored in honor of slain saints called Valentine. Distinct traditions honor three different saints known as Valentine or Valentinus, but the feast day was removed from the Christian liturgical calendar in 1969 since nothing was known about these individuals and there were competing accounts of the Saint Valentine Day tale.

Despite the fact that nothing is known about the literal history of Saint Valentine's on whom the jubilee is innovated, there are colorful performances of Saint Valentine's tradition. According to tradition, Saint Valentine refused to convert to atheism and was put to death by Claudius II, the Roman Emperor. Prior to his death, he miraculously healed his coprisoner's son, who latterly converted to Christianity with his family. According to another tale, the factual namesake of the event is a bishop named Saint Valentine of Terni, who was also killed.

Others claim that Saint Valentine was a Roman priest who performed marriages for soldiers who were banned to marry due to an emperor's proclamation that married soldiers did not make excellent warriors and hence young men could not marry. This Saint Valentine had a ring with a Cupid on it, which served as a sign of love and helped troops identify him. He also distributed paper hearts as a predecessor to greeting cards to remind Christians of their love for God.

St. Valentine came famed as the patron saint of love as a result of this tradition. Saint Valentine is asked in the Saint Valentine prayer to unite suckers so that they come one and remember their devotion to God.

While the Saint Valentine story laid the root for the day's establishment as a vacation devoted to romantic love, it was a lyric written by medieval author Geoffrey Chaucer in 1381 that chroniclers believe is the source of the" ultramodern" Valentine's Day festivity, in which we recognize our romantic connections with one another.

Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Chaucer lived during the Middle Ages, a time when courtly love was honored via wide, lyrical expressions of devotion—poems, ballads, and paintings. The word "valentine" was being used to designate a lover in poetry and ballads by the end of the 15th century, and a book called The Young Man's Valentine Writer was published in England in the 18th century. Valentine's Day where we know it today in the mid-nineteenth century, after mass-produced paper Valentine's Cards were introduced (but DIY Valentine card ideas are still worth trying).

The reality about Valentine's Day history is that the romantic occasion has seen its fair share of anguish. On February 14, 1929, seven men were taken by a group commanded by Al Capone in Chicago during Prohibition. The Valentine's Day Massacre constituted a turning point in Prohibition history, with police and lawmakers pursuing gangs and mobs that had formed in metropolises to control also-illegal substances like alcohol.

What is the meaning of Valentine’s Day?

Valentine's Day has been a religious festival, an ancient ceremonial day, and a commercial holiday over the years (and centuries). Because of all of these changes, the meaning of Valentine's Day can be whatever you want it to be: you can skip the celebration completely, buy yourself some chocolate or flowers, or express your love and appreciation for the people in your life if they're really coworkers, romantic partners, friends, or family members. Some people still love Valentine's Day, while others dislike it; Galentine's Day is a relatively new manner of commemorating women's love for their closest friends.

So, whatever you choose to commemorate Valentine's Day, even if it's only via self-love, do so.

A lovely supper out, a trip to the movies, planning a special meal at home, or having Valentine's Day party are all excellent ways to celebrate the day.