Saint Valentines Day, also known as Valentines Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine,[1] is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them. St. Valentines Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. Several martyrdom stories were invented for the various Valentines that belonged to February 14, and added to later martyrologies.[2] A popular hagiographical account of Saint Valentine of Rome states that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius. An embellishment to this story states that before his execution he wrote her a letter signed Your Valentine as a farewell.[3] Today, Saint Valentines Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion,[4] as well as in the Lutheran Church.[5] The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentines Day, albeit on July 6 and July 30, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni). In Brazil, the Dia de São Valentim is recognized on June 12. The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as valentines). Valentines Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.[6] Contents [hide] 1 Saint Valentine 1.1 Historical facts 1.2 Legends 2 Folk traditions 3 Connection with romantic love 3.1 Lupercalia 3.2 Chaucers love birds 3.3 Medieval period and the English Renaissance 3.4 Modern times 3.5 Antique and vintage Valentine cards, 1850–1950 4 Celebration worldwide 4.1 China 4.2 Finland and Estonia 4.3 France 4.4 Greece 4.5 India 4.6 Iran 4.7 Israel 4.8 Japan 4.9 Latin America 4.10 Philippines 4.11 Portugal 4.12 Romania 4.13 Scandinavia 4.14 Singapore 4.15 South Korea 4.16 Spain 4.17 Taiwan 4.18 Wales 5 Conflict with Islamic countries and political parties 5.1 Iran 5.2 Malaysia 5.3 Pakistan 5.4 Saudi Arabia 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links Saint Valentine For more details on this topic, see Saint Valentine. Historical facts St Valentine baptizing St Lucilla, Jacopo Bassano Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine.[7] The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae).[8] Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who was martyred about AD 496 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. The relics of Saint Valentine were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome, which remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV.[9][10] The flower-crowned skull[11] of Saint Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics are found at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.[12] Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian. He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino). Jack B. Oruch states that abstracts of the acts of the two saints were in nearly every church and monastery of Europe.[13] The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.[14] Saint Valentines head was preserved in the abbey of New Minster, Winchester, and venerated.[15] February 14 is celebrated as St. Valentines Day in various Christian denominations; it has, for example, the rank of commemoration in the calendar of saints in the Anglican Communion.[4] In addition, the feast day of Saint Valentine is also given in the calendar of saints of the Lutheran Church.[5] However, in the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feast day of Saint Valentine on February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar and relegated to particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason: Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14.[16] The feast day is still celebrated in Balzan (Malta) where relics of the saint are claimed to be found, and also throughout the world by Traditionalist Catholics who follow the older, pre-Second Vatican Council calendar. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, St. Valentines Day is celebrated on July 6, in which Saint Valentine, the Roman presbyter, is honoured; furthermore, the Eastern Orthodox Church obsesrves the feast of Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on July 30.[17][18][19] Legends J.C. Cooper, in The Dictionary of Christianity, writes that Saint Valentine was a priest of Rome who was imprisoned for succouring persecuted Christians.[20] Contemporary records of Saint Valentine were most probably destroyed during this Diocletianic Persecution in the early 4th century.[21] In the 5th or 6th century, a work called Passio Marii et Marthae published a story of martyrdom for Saint Valentine of Rome, perhaps by borrowing tortures that happened to other saints, as was usual in the literature of that period. The same events are also found in Bedes Martyrology, which was compiled in the 8th century.[21][22] It states that Saint Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer Asterius. The jailers daughter and his forty-four member household (family members and servants) came to believe in Jesus and were baptized.[21] A later Passio repeated the legend, adding that Pope Julius I built a church over his sepulcre (it is a confusion with a 4th-century tribune called Valentino who donated land to build a church at a time when Julius was a Pope).[22] The legend was picked up as fact by later martyrologies, starting by Bedes martyrology in the 8th century.[22] It was repeated in the 13th century, in Legenda Aurea.[23] The book expounded briefly the Early Medieval acta of several Saint Valentines, and this legend was assigned to the Valentine under February 14. There is an additional embellishment to The Golden Legend, which according to Henry Ansgar Kelly, was added centuries later, and widely repeated.[3] On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he would have written the first valentine card himself, addressed to the daughter of his jailer Asterius, who was no longer blind, signing as Your Valentine.[3] The expression From your Valentine was later adopted by modern Valentine letters.[24] This legend has been published by both American Greetings and The History Channel. John Foxe, an English historian, as well as the Order of Carmelites, state that Saint Valentine was buried in the Church of Praxedes in Rome, located near the cemetery of Saint Hippolytus. This order says that according to legend, Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship.[25][26] Anther embellishment is that Saint Valentine would have performed clandestine Christian weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry.[27] The Roman Emperor Claudius II supposedly forbade this in order to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers.[27][28] However, this supposed marriage ban was never issued, and in fact Claudius II told his soldiers to take two or three women for themselves after his victory over the Goths.[29] According to legend, in order to remind these men of their vows and God’s love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment, giving them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St. Valentines Day.[30] Saint Valentine supposedly wore a purple amethyst ring, customarily worn on the hands of Christian bishops with an image of Cupid engraved in it, a recognizable symbol associated with love that was legal under the Roman Empire;[28][31] Roman soldiers would recognize the ring and ask him to perform marriage for them.[28] Probably because of the association with Saint Valentine, amethyst has become the birthstone of February, and its thought to attract love.[32] Folk traditions While the European folk traditions connected with Saint Valentine and St. Valentines Day have become marginalized by the modern Anglo-American customs connecting the day with romantic love, there are some remaining associations connecting the saint with the advent of spring. While the custom of sending cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts originated in the UK, Valentines Day still remains connected with various regional customs in England. In Norfolk, a character called Jack Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children. Although he was leaving treats, many children were scared of this mystical person.[33][34] In Slovenia, Saint Valentine or Zdravko was one of the saints of spring, the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and pilgrims.[35] A proverb says that Saint Valentine brings the keys of roots. Plants and flowers start to grow on this day. It has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences. It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day. Another proverb says Valentin – prvi spomladin (Valentine — the first spring saint), as in some places (especially White Carniola), Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring.[36] Valentines Day has only recently been celebrated as the day of love. The day of love was traditionally March 12, the Saint Gregorys day, or February 22, Saint Vincents Day. The patron of love was Saint Anthony, whose day has been celebrated on June 13.[35] Connection with romantic love Lupercalia Main article: Lupercalia There is no evidence of any link between St. Valentines Day and the rites of the ancient Roman festival, despite many claims by many authors.[15][37][notes 1] The celebration of Saint Valentine did not have any romantic connotations until Chaucers poetry about Valentines in the 14th century.[21] Popular modern sources claim links to unspecified Greco-Roman February holidays alleged to be devoted to fertility and love to St. Valentines Day, but prior to Chaucer in the 14th century, there were no links between the Saints named Valentinus and romantic love.[21] Earlier links as described above were focused on sacrifice rather than romantic love. In the ancient Athenian calendar the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera. In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia, observed February 13–15, was an archaic rite connected to fertility. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning Juno the purifier or the chaste Juno, was celebrated on February 13–14. Pope Gelasius I (492–496) abolished Lupercalia. Some researchers have theorized that Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with the celebration of the Purification of Mary in February 14 and claim a connection to the 14th centurys connotations of romantic love, but there is no historical indication that he ever intended such a thing.[notes 2][38] Also, the dates dont fit because at the time of Gelasius I the feast was only celebrated in Jerusalem, and it was on February 14 only because Jerusalem placed the Nativity on January 6.[notes 3] Although it was called Purification of Mary, it dealt mainly with the presentation of Jesus at the temple.[39] The Jerusalems Purification of Mary on February 14 became the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple on February 2 as it was introduced to Rome and other places in the sixth century, after Gelasius Is time.[40] Alban Butler in his Lifes of the Principal Saints (1756–1759) claimed without proof that men and women in Lupercalia drew names from a jar to make couples, and that modern Valentines letters originated from this custom. In reality, this practice originated in the Middle Ages, with no link to Lupercalia, with men drawing the names of girls at random to couple with them. This custom was combated by priests, for example by Frances de Sales around 1600, apparently by replacing it with a religious custom of girls drawing the names of apostles from the altar. However, this religious custom is recorded as soon as the 13th century in the life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, so it could have a different origin.[15]
Posted on: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 08:00:45 +0000
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