How St. Valentines Day Began
St. Valentine was a Christian Roman who was martyred for
refusing to give up his beleifs. Before St. Valentine died,
on
February 14, 269 A.D., St. Valentine left a love note to
the jailer's daughter and signed it "Your Valentine".
Since
then, February 14th has been the day to celebrate
St. Valentines Day, a day of love.
On St. Valentines Day we show
our loved ones just how much
they mean to us
A HISTORY
Sending Valentine
cards is a custom that dates back
to pagan times. The priest, St. Valentine, is said to
have sent messages of love
to his friends from his
prison cell. Following his execution on February 14,
296 A.D., countless other "prisoners of
love" have
joined in this timeless tradition. It was not until
1537, however, that St. Valentine's Day gained
recognition
as an official holiday.
Valentine's Day has been
celebrated for many centuries.
Even though Valentine's Day falls on February 14, its
customs began with the Roman Feast
of Lupercalia,
which was celebrated on February 15. On the eve of
Saint Valentine's Day, young people would gather,
and
each young man would draw by lot a young lady's name.
The couples were then "valentines" for the year and
would
exchange tokens of love.
Valentines became mass-produced
around 1850, and
many of them are still available to collectors.
Victorian Valentines, often elaborately adorned with
honeycombed tissue paper, embossed paper hearts
and exquisite lace, are aesthetically impressive.
Some finer examples
originally cost up to a month's
earnings and proposal Valentines, usually featuring a
church or a ring, enjoyed popularity.
In keeping with
the times, during this era it was considered improper
for a lady to send a Valentine to a man.
Throughout the ages, Valentines
have provided
fragile remembrances of history, and they are a
timeless reminder that the supreme happiness in life
is
to know that we are loved.
© 1999 MC
