VALENTINE'S DAY AND ITS ORIGIN

Love rules the world, and it would certainly be a much better place if human beings would follow the principle of making love instead of war. Today’s world is one of extremes and exageration, and we created world or international days for anything – even the mathematical constant p (pi) has its world day. In this context, Love should by no means be forgotten.

The origin of Valentine’s Day is somehow obscure though one thing is clear: it is a tribute to one of the seven saints (as tradition says) named Valentine who are celebrated on February 14 and whose character fits particularly in the symbol of a lovers’ patron. Saint Valentine of Terni was a priest in Rome at the time of Claudius II. Let me tell you his story.

Under the ruling of Claudius, Rome was involved in many bloody campaigns, and a great popular discontent was growing among young Roman men. The emperor was then having a bad time getting soldiers to volunteer to join his military contingents, and this made him furious. Persuaded that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their wives and children, Claudius decided to ban marriage from the empire.

This unfair law added to the desperation of young people, and they turned to someone who could help them: Valentine, the young physician who was also a Christian priest known for helping Christians and performing marriages. And Valentine continued to secretly marrying young couples even after Claudius had passed his law. One day, unfortunately, the emperor knew about it, and Valentine was caught and dragged before him. Claudius first tried to convert Valentine to paganism, but when he saw that Valentine was instead trying to convert him to Christianity, Claudius became angry and condemned Valentine to death.

During the days Valentine was imprisoned, many young people came to jail to visit him, and among them was the jailer’s blind daughter, Augustine; she was one of Valentine's patients and also his friend. Valentine was in love with her and on the day he was to die, he left her a note in which he had wrapped a yellow crocus (or saffron), one of his healing plants. As Augustine opened the note, her sight was restored and she could read: “From your Valentine.” It was Valentine’s farewell message that would later become world’s first valentine. Valentine was beheaded on February 14, 269 AD. According to legend, on his grave, a rose-blossom almond tree was planted that became a symbol of eternal love.

The Romans had for centuries been celebrating on 15 February the festival of Lupercalia before the establishment of Valentine’s Day. First devoted to Lupercus, the god protector of the sheep, it became later a holiday to honour Juno, Jupiter’s wife and queen of the Roman gods and goddesses; she was also the goddess of married women and of marriage. February 14, the eve of the festival of Lupercalia, was also the day devoted to the love lotteries: the names of Roman young girls were written on slips of paper and placed in jars, each Roman young man would draw a girl’s name from the jar, and they would be a couple for the duration of the festival. Sometimes they would fall in love and marry.

Around 496 AD, Pope Gelasius endeavoured to do away with these pagan festivities by replacing the names of the girls with those of saints, and both men and women were invited to draw a name of a saint from a box and to try as in a game to imitate his life during the rest of the year. This rule did not please most of the Roman men, and in an attempt to change it, the Church looked for a patron saint to replace the pagan god Lupercus. As the day of the Roman love lottery coincided with the day Saint Valentine had died, he was then chosen as patron saint of love; in early Christian tradition, saints were usually celebrated on the day they had died.

For many years after the love lottery had been banned by the Christian Church, Roman men would nevertheless still seek the company of women by giving the lady of their choice handwritten messages of affection that contained Valentine’s name. The first Valentine card grew certainly out of this practice.

According to historical record, the first card was sent by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife in 1415; he was at the time imprisoned in the Tower of London.

With the passing of centuries other traditions were added to Valentine’s Day, and this festivity is nowadays such a commercial event that it became a large shopping business for some and a big trap for others.

After all, what is important is to show our affection to those we love, and for doing this we don’t need to put in danger our financial situation: a nice card chosen with tenderness and written with words directly coming from our heart will be one of the most beautiful gifts.

© Dulce Rodrigues