Valentines Day-An Origin Story

 DID YOU KNOW:

The color of flower given on Valentine's Day holds meaning.
While a red rose has traditionally symbolized love, other colors like deep pink, purple or white -- which symbolize happiness, royalty and sympathy respectively -- may be given on the holiday too.

The day was commemorated for martyred saints named, yup, you guessed it, St. Valentine. There are three different legends that celebrate the 3 saints called Valentine or Valentinus. However, there was little known about these men, which caused conflicting reports of the St. Valentine Day story, that eventually led to the celebrated day being removed from the Christian liturgical calendar in 1969.

*The earliest Valentinus is said to have died in Africa, along with 24 soldiers. Unfortunately, even the Bollandists could not find any more information about him. Sometimes, the Monks knew, all that the saints left behind was a name and day of death.

*Another legend says a bishop called Saint Valentine of Terni is the true origin of the holiday. Terni’s bishop got into a simular situation as the other Valentinus, by debating a potential convert and afterward healing his son. He was beheaded on the orders of Emperor Gothicus. The Bollandists suggested, that there weren’t actually two decapitated Valentines, but that two different versions of one saint’s legend appeared in both Rome and Terni.

Thus far, African, Roman or Umbrian, none of the Valentines seems to have been romantic.

DID YOU KNOW:

The first heart-shaped box of chocolates was introduced in 1861.
It was created by Richard Cadbury, son of Cadbury founder John Cadbury, who started packaging chocolates in fancy boxes to increase sales. He introduced the first heart-shaped box of chocolates for V-Day in 1861.

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**Another legend involves the practice of writing actual love letters to your Valentine. The legend goes that St. Valentine wrote the first “valentine” greeting to a young girl he tutored and eventually fell in love with while he was imprisoned for the crimes outlined above. According to The History Channel, before his death, he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine," which remains a commonly used phrase to this day.

DID YOU KNOW:

“XOXO” didn't always mean hugs and kisses.
“XOXO” is a popular signature during this time of year. The origins of the signature, however, stem from the Middle Ages. In an article written by The Washington Post reported that during those times the “X” symbolized the Christian cross, and letters ended with the sign of the cross and a kiss to symbolize an oath. As the gesture became more popular in literature, letters and paperwork, it came to mean something had been “sealed with a kiss.”

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 **Yet another legend says, that because Valentine's Day is a fixed day on the calendar, it got lumped into a celebration from the ancient Roman calendar called Lupercalia—which caused some historians to believe that is what led to Valentine's Day being all about love as Lupercalia celebrated fertility on Feb 15th. The feast of debauchery involved a ritual where an order of Roman priests ran naked through the streets, "gently slapping" women with the blood-soaked hides of sacrificed animals, which they believed promoted fertility. Following the "slapping", was another tradition in which men selected women's names at random from a jar to decide who would remain together for the next year, and, if they fell in love, they'd marry.

DID YOU KNOW:

Lovebirds are actual birds.
While the term “lovebirds” has become a popular figure of speech, it’s also the common name for Agapornis birds. This bird is a type of parrot that is native to the continent of Africa and can be found throughout the eastern and southern regions. The animals typically travel in pairs, which is why many couples are referred to as lovebirds.

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Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity but was soon outlawed, as it was deemed “un-Christian” at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day.

During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed, both in France and England, that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.

The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day as a day of romantic celebration in his 1375 poem “Parliament of Foules,” writing, ““For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.”

 DID YOU KNOW:

It wasn't until the 1840s that we got the first mass-produced valentines.
People started exchanging cards and handwritten letters to both lovers and friends during the 17th century, but it was in the 1840s that the first Valentine's Day cards were mass-produced in the U.S., sold by Esther A. Howland. Known as the "Mother of the American Valentine," Howland is credited with commercializing Valentine's Day cards in America, and she is remembered for her elaborate, crafty cards made with lace and ribbons.

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 As for Cupid, the winged boy often seen on Valentine's Day cards and other paraphernalia, is another symbol of love on Valentine's Day. In Roman mythology, Cupid was the son of Venus, who happens to be the goddess of love and beauty. Cupid is known for being mischevious and shooting arrows at both gods and humans, causing them to fall instantly in love with one another. Its not  clear when Cupid was brought into the Valentine's Day story, but it's certainly clear why.

Thanks for reading along. I hope you found it, lovely.

Here are a few Valentine Day books, or you can