Behind Saint Valentine's Day
Before February 14th comes, why not know exactly why you're celebrating the love you share with your special someone? This famous holiday originated the year of 496 A.D and has significant meaning behind it.
Valentine’s day originated in ancient Rome. It began in honor of celebrating Juno, the queen of the Roman gods. The day after the holiday (February 15) the Lupercalia Festival was held in honor of Juno and Pan, the god of nature. On this day, people would celebrate fertility. Legend says, Romans held a tradition where girls’ names would be written down in pieces of paper and put in a jar. Men would then draw a random name and whoever they picked would become their partner for the entire Lupercalia Festival.
This then connects to a war that was going on around the time Rome was ruled by Emperor Claudius the Second. The Emperor realized that many men did not want to go to war because they wanted to stay with their wives and family, this drove him to create a law against marriage. A Preist in Rome named Valentine rebelled against this law and married couples in secret. When he was caught, the Emperor sentenced him to death. While imprisoned, a guard’s daughter continuously visited the Preist, they would share stories and spend time together. The day he was executed he left a note for the guard’s daughter where he confessed his love for her and signed, “From your Valentine”.
In the year 496 A.D, Pope Gelasius decided to remove the Lupercalia Festival deeming it immoral and ungodly. He instead chose to celebrate lovers and named the day after Saint Valentine.
This is the reason why today couples call each other their “Valentine”. The significance behind the name expresses how in love the person is with the other, how on their last minutes alive they would dedicate the last words they would say to show how much one means to them.
VALENTINES DAY SYMBOLS:
CUPID: Love between a man and a woman. Cupid would shoot his arrow to help two people fall in love with each other.
HEART: Known as the place for all human emotions.
ROSES: The color red could show the meaning of strong emotions like love.
DOVE: These birds are said to choose their partners in the month of February, they choose their mate for life.