ndus in India protesting St. Valentine's Day and in turn western promiscuity. "We are deadly against Valentine's Day," said Sapan Dutta, a regional leader of the hard-line Shiv Sena group. "We are for civilized love and affection." The protests didn't curtail hundreds of New Delhi couples dressing all in red in a show of favor for the holiday. I never equated Valentines with promiscuous behavior. I always equated it with Hallmark sticking it to the single gal with all the gigantic boxes of ruffle covered chocolates and red sparkly cards that I only got from other girlfriends for fun. Or being a Chicago girl for the last ten years one of Al Capone's biggest ordered bloodbaths the St Valentine's Day Massacre. Of course last year I embraced Valentines in all it's cheesy glory for my first heart covered holiday with Matty...awwwwwwww!All this hullabaloo in India made me curious about the origins of Valentines Day and the true intentions behind the holiday.
There 
are many different stories claiming the beginning of Valentines day. There were at least three "Saint Valentines" who are all said to be martyred on February 14. The most popular St. Valentine(Valentinus presb. m. Romae) was Roman and was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". There is another legend that this Saint Valentine fell out of favor with Claudius II who had outlawed marriage saying bachelors made better soldiers. Against the Emperors orders Saint Valentine continued to perform the sacred act of marriage ending in his beheading.
are many different stories claiming the beginning of Valentines day. There were at least three "Saint Valentines" who are all said to be martyred on February 14. The most popular St. Valentine(Valentinus presb. m. Romae) was Roman and was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". There is another legend that this Saint Valentine fell out of favor with Claudius II who had outlawed marriage saying bachelors made better soldiers. Against the Emperors orders Saint Valentine continued to perform the sacred act of marriage ending in his beheading. The ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility festival was celebrated on February 15 in honor of Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Ro
mulus and Remus. The Luperci, an order of priest would get together in a cave supposedly inhabited by the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus. Two goats and a dog would be sacrificed. The goat skin would be cut into strips then given to young boys who would run naked thru the town slapping women and crops with the goat's hide. While this may sound like an unpleasant happening the woman were said to relish the playful slaps believing they were made more fertile by this interaction. All of the single women would place their names in an urn to be drawn out by the city bachelors, pairing each couple for the year. Many of these pairings resulted in marriage. The early church saw this as unchristian and some Roman priests began to switch out names of single girls for names of saints. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) is credited with completely abolishing Lupercalia in favor of St. Valentine's Day.
mulus and Remus. The Luperci, an order of priest would get together in a cave supposedly inhabited by the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus. Two goats and a dog would be sacrificed. The goat skin would be cut into strips then given to young boys who would run naked thru the town slapping women and crops with the goat's hide. While this may sound like an unpleasant happening the woman were said to relish the playful slaps believing they were made more fertile by this interaction. All of the single women would place their names in an urn to be drawn out by the city bachelors, pairing each couple for the year. Many of these pairings resulted in marriage. The early church saw this as unchristian and some Roman priests began to switch out names of single girls for names of saints. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) is credited with completely abolishing Lupercalia in favor of St. Valentine's Day. We can thank Geoffrey Chaucer for turning Valentine's day into a day of romantic love. His poem 1381 Parlement of Foules is the first recorded reference that this is a special day for lovers.
"For this was on St. Valentine's Day, When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate"
Things snow
balled from there. Hand made cards, chocolates, flowers, all of these things became common place throughout Europe. In the States however Valentines day did not really take off until the 1850s, when Esther A. Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts began mass-producing Valentine's Day cards creating the largest card market in America. 25% of all greeting card sales are for Valentines. So now that my curiosity has been satisfied, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
balled from there. Hand made cards, chocolates, flowers, all of these things became common place throughout Europe. In the States however Valentines day did not really take off until the 1850s, when Esther A. Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts began mass-producing Valentine's Day cards creating the largest card market in America. 25% of all greeting card sales are for Valentines. So now that my curiosity has been satisfied, Happy Valentine's Day everyone! 