While Valentine’s Day today is celebrated with candies, flowers, and gifts, it was celebrated much differently long ago. According to history.com, “Around A.D. 270, the holiday started as a celebration and commemoration of the anniversary of Saint Valentine’s burial. Others also used this day to celebrate and “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture as well as the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. On February 15th, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn, in which the city’s bachelors would choose a name and become paired for the year with the woman he chose. The matches often became endless years of love and resulted in marriage. Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity, but it ended with him being outlawed as it seemed “un-Christian”, and at the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius declared February 14th as the new day of celebrating St. Valentine.”
It wasn’t until much later on down the line that Valentine’s Day was associated with love. Also according to history.com, “During the Middle Ages, France and England believed that February 14th was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which made them believe February 14th should be celebrated for love and romance. Although St. Valentine’s was celebrated for one day out of the year to experience unconditional love since the Middle Ages, the oldest Valentine we still have is a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer to create a beautifully structured Valentine’s note for Catherine of Valois. In present-day America, we celebrate every year on the 14th of February, by creating and giving cards or hand-grafted letters, as well as gifts, such as flowers, chocolates, and stuffed animals. Older people are more likely to go out to a fancy restaurant favorite or an occasional gift of expensive jewelry to their significant other. Students around America also normally exchange cards and candy with their classmates. Students will also hand make letters and cards with pink and red roses, hearts, and even Cupid, followed up with a heart-warming message or well-known Valentine’s rhyme.”
To get a better understanding of how people view Valentine’s Day, Patience Moore shared her thoughts on the holiday. To Moore, Valentine’s Day is an important holiday to her, it’s a day she spends showing her appreciation and gratitude toward her loved ones. Moore also enjoys getting gifts for people, she likes to get her friends their favorite candy, snacks, or even a letter expressing how much she loves their company. Gift-giving is something she loves doing and hopefully is something she can continue doing throughout the years. If Moore were to get gifts of any kind she would appreciate gifts that have meaning behind them, something that show what she genuinely enjoys as a person. Gifts that are personalized just for the person they’re getting it for are important, it shows how much time and energy they spent on getting a gift the other person would enjoy and love hugely. Moore states, “Valentine’s Day is normally known for gift giving, but I take the time to show the people I care most for that I do appreciate and love them”.
This is how Valentine’s Day originated, and where and how people celebrate it now. Valentine’s has come a long way, as it’s now one of the biggest holidays during the year. Taking the time to show how much we all admire and cherish the relationships we have with the people in our lives, and Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to do so. Now that you’ve gotten a better idea of how Valentine’s Day started and how much it does mean to people, go buy someone you love a Valentine’s Day gift!
