What is Valentine's Day and Why We Celebrate it?

What is Valentine’s Day and Why We Celebrate it?

Valentine’s Day, also called St. Valentine’s Day is one of the most important days for lovers to be able to create a romantic memory for their loved ones. Every February 14, lovers across the world exchange gift, flowers and candy with their loved ones, to express their love, feelings and care for their special ones. The history of Valentine’s Day goes back to the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day in Catholic churches. It came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14th century. But why? How did this holiday of love and romance originate? Why do we celebrate it? Find the answer to all these questions in this article.

What is the real meaning of Valentine’s Day?

According to Dictionary.com “Valentine’s Day is an annual holiday recognized around the world. It celebrates romantic love, making it a popular day for couples to spend together.” Valentine’s Day is a story that teaches us about love, sacrifice, and commitment. It is traditionally associated with flowers, red hearts, candy, romance and the exchange of cards.

What is the real story of Valentine’s Day?

The real story of Valentine’s Day begins in ancient times. The Romans had a feast in the middle of February called Lupercalia, which was officially start of spring for them. In the third century, the Roman Empire was ruled by Emperor Claudius II Gothicus. He was a cruel person and had a big tendency for getting into wars and abusing his people, because of these characters he was nicknamed Claudius the Cruel. Claudius was getting into so many wars that he had a difficult time recruiting enough soldiers. He believed that the reason he has such a difficulty for recruiting soldiers was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families behind, so he canceled all marriages and engagements in Rome. Many couples saw their hopes of matrimony dashed by the single act of a tyrant and no one had the courage to stand up to the emperor.

A Christian priest named Valentine came forward and stood up to the emperor’s order. He began to secretly marry soldiers before they went off to war. In 269 A.D., Emperor Claudius found out about Valentine’s secret ceremonies. He had Valentine thrown into prison and sentenced him to death.

Before his execution, Valentine fell in love with the jailer’s daughter who was a blind girl. On the eve of his execution, with no writing instruments available, Valentine is said to have written her a letter in ink that he squeezed from violets. It was a brief romance because the next day Valentine was clubbed to death by Roman executioners.

Is Valentine only for lovers?

Generally, we consider Valentine’s Day as lover’s day or a day only meant for couples. But, in fact, Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love of all kinds, whether it is for your parents, siblings or children, your cousins, and friends.

Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Reason 1: The history

Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many countries all over the world. There are many stories pertaining to St. Valentine himself, who was a Christian saint, and February 14th was a religious feast day associated with him. The association of love and romance being attached to the day didn’t come about until the 18th century. It was in Geoffrey Chaucer’s circles that the day was used as a celebration of the new courtly love that was evolving at the time. Eventually, the day evolved further still; into the day for lovers to express their feelings to their loved ones, and into the modern Valentine’s Day where greeting cards, chocolates and flowers are all associated as tokens of that love.

Reason 2: People want it

The evolvement of Valentine’s Day into its present-day incarnation mostly came about because of the general public. Such things as dates may be able to be attributed to old Christian festivals, but the spirit of Valentine’s Day, and the fact that it has been kept alive and flourishes more than ever today, is paramount to human beings’ desire to express love. That’s why we have Valentine’s Day! There should be a day to celebrate romantic love!

Reason 3: Commercialization

Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a day to celebrate love, but it has increasingly become an over-commercialized holiday. In America, the average amount that a person spends on Valentine’s Day has risen $60 over the last 10 years. The rise in spending on Valentine’s Day whether it’s to buy gifts for oneself, a romantic partner or loved ones is reflective of the belief that spending money is essential to expressing love, but just because we live in a commercial world, it doesn’t mean that giving of greetings cards and roses should be diminished in any way.

Is Valentine’s Day for a man or woman?

“Let’s not kid each other; Valentine’s Day isn’t for dudes.” That’s what writer Naomi Piercey said when explaining to the male readership of Men’s Health why exactly women love Valentine’s Day. Since, you know, for some strange reason men can’t enjoy a holiday meant to celebrate love in general or honor their relationship in particular, so they need some serious insight as to what the big commotion is all about.

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