Valentine's Day: History of the Patron Saint of Lovers and Origin of Valentine's Day

Are you in a relationship? Are you for or against celebrating Valentine's Day and exchanging original gifts during this occasion? Do you want to know more about this date before giving your opinion? Are you interested in the definition and history of Valentine's Day?

As Christians, we want to help you better understand the stories of the Saints, including the one who is said to be the patron saint of lovers. So we are going to give you information that proves the connection between this symbolic personality in Christian history and love.

Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14. During this date, lovers give each other gifts to show their feelings and celebrate love. Although it is not a holiday commemorated by the Church like Christmas, Easter, etc., it is particularly known to all, Christians or not. Everyone can celebrate it in their own way.

We wrote this article with the aim of helping you discover:

If you would like to discover more stories about Christian saints, here are several articles available on our site that you can discover:

• The Story of Padre Pio
• The story of Saint Rita of Cascia
• The Story of Saint Anthony the Great
• The Story of Saint Joseph
• The story of Saint Therese
• All about the history of Saint Benedict of Nursia

Who is Saint Valentine?

What most people remember about Valentine's Day is the gifts, the chocolates, the bouquet of flowers, the perfumes, the romantic evenings with candles, the romantic dinner, etc. But this holiday has more convoluted historical origins than other Christian celebrations like Easter, Pentecost, etc. They come from various cultures and religions: orgiastic Roman festivals, a carnival, a persecuted Roman priest, etc.

Every year, it's the same old story: when February 14 approaches, shops and stores turn red and white, the colors of love and ardent feelings.

According to the stories , Saint Valentine was a priest who had a crush on a girl from his jailer. While waiting for his execution, he exchanged words of love with her, signing off with " Your Valentine ."

Other stories equate the patron saint of lovers with Velentin of Terni. He was a monk and despite his refusal to submit to Emperor Claudius II Gothicus who forbade marriage in order to prevent men from being tempted to stay with their fiancées instead of going to war, he was imprisoned. It was there that he met his jailer's daughter named Julia. She asked him to describe the world to her because she was blind. They ended up falling in love and by a miracle, Julia regained her sight. Relayed everywhere, the miracle reached Claudius II Gothicus, who had no affection for Christians. He then decided to have Valentine of Terni executed, who became the martyr of love and later, the patron saint of lovers. It was Pope Gelaz I who decided to honor him on February 14, 494.

But Saint Valentine of Terni is not the only Saint Valentine, there are also three other Valentines who are celebrated with him. There was also Saint Valentine, beheaded in 270 AD; another Valentine of Rhaetia from the fifth century who is celebrated particularly in Germany and a last Valentine, of African origin who is rather unknown than the others.

The most famous Valentine is certainly that of ancient Rome.

Why is February 14th Valentine's Day?

At the origin of the feast of Saint Valentine , there is a libertine celebration called the Roman Lupercalia. During this day, men would hit women on the belly with leather straps to make them fertile before copulating with them. At the end of the pagan religious tradition , there were bacchanalia. During this time, everyone drank without limit.

In the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I decided to curb the Lupercalia by replacing it with a feast of purification of the Virgin on February 2. Later, this celebration became Candlemas. The feast of spiritual love is celebrated on the eve of the Lupercalia, which is now commemorated on February 14. In this case, Valentine's Day.

In the ^19th century, the creation of " Valentines ", little sweet words that lovers and very good friends exchanged, made the phenomenon of Valentine's Day more famous than ever. Since then, the holiday has taken on an increasingly commercial aspect. In the ^20th century, greeting cards were created and they were intended especially for lovers . Over the years, the gifts that lovers give each other have evolved a lot. Everyone is looking for their own way of being romantic . There are those who decide to give small surprise gifts and others who go even further and propose to mark their February 14th.

What animal is associated with Valentine's Day?

In the Middle Ages, most festivities were celebrated through carnivals. This was the case for Valentine's Day. According to historians, carnival is an inversion of the social order, a custom to mark a celebration, a feast day where everything is possible or almost .

Love carnivals, and more particularly the one associated with Valentine's Day, are then one of the festivals around the bear. This animal has an exceptionally sexual symbolism. In another era, Valentine's Day was therefore considered a time when men were really sexist. They dressed up as bears, grabbed women and took them to their lairs where they raped them. It was a violent and macho practice, but it was very widespread and unpunished.

Contemporary Valentine's Day

Over the centuries, Valentine's Day has evolved. In the 15th century, it finally arrived in the West. The holiday was particularly popular in the United States. It then took a poetic turn and turned into courtly love. According to historians, it was a domestication of these violent rituals in order to soften them.

This poetic shift began in France and then reached England. It was in this country that the tradition of love poems and drawings flourished, then cards. In 1840, these English cards arrived in the United States where they were an instant success. Indeed, this holiday arrived just at the time when the young nation was looking for new celebrations.

During the Second World War, the tradition of Valentine 's Day returned to France thanks to American soldiers who glorified the characteristics of this celebration to seduce French women. They offered them gifts of all kinds and flowers . It was also there that salespeople understood the commercial interest of the celebration. Thus, chocolatiers , stationers, florists, and many others sought to make this one of the key moments of their sales.

What is valentinage?

Valentineage is a term derived from Valentine, which was taken from the name Saint Valentine . It was used during the 14th century to describe a couple formed at random. This tradition was famous in England. It became a kind of custom in the English aristocracy.

Valentine's Day, as already mentioned, consists of forming a couple with a young girl who was associated with a young man without asking their consent, so that could be against their will. During the day, they had obligations towards each other. In secret, the valentine and his valentine had to give each other small gifts and do each other gallantries. This custom ended up landing at the Court of Savoy before spreading to neighboring regions.

Over the years, Valentine's Day has been adorned with the sending of Valentine's Day poems.

Valentine's Day Around the World

All people in all countries of the world have their own ways of celebrating Valentine's Day. There are even those who do not celebrate the date of February 14.

In France, Valentine's Day is the key sales period for florists. They manage to sell in just one day the turnover they would usually make in seven days. The best-selling species is the rose with 80% of sales.

In eastern countries like Pakistan and India also, Valentine's Day has become popular and has caused hostility between two opposing groups. One is for the celebration in the same way as the westerners and the other is against it.

In China, Qixi has been the Chinese Valentine's Day since medieval times. It takes place on the seventh day of the seventh moon. But since the 1980s, the Chinese have also celebrated Western Valentine's Day. It mainly takes on its commercial air.

Japanese Valentine's Day is mainly a commercial holiday during which women offer chocolates to men. This is called "honmei choco". They also offer chocolates as a courtesy to other men around them such as their friends, colleagues, etc. This is called "giri choco". In return for this gift, men offer a "white day" or howaito gift on March 14. They can offer white chocolate, white lingerie, jewelry , etc. as presents. Love is considered one-sided if the man who received the gift on March 14 February offers nothing when March 14th comes.

Other Asian areas including Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have decided to follow this Japanese tradition.

February 14th in Algeria is called "Aid El Houb". It is mainly celebrated by young people. The most common gifts exchanged between couples are roses and chocolates. In schools, students also give gifts to their teachers as a thank you and recognition on this day.

In Lebanon, February 14 symbolizes the exchange of gifts such as cakes, chocolates, etc. between lovers. The "red day" is organized in schools, especially high schools and colleges. During this day, students wear red clothes. There are sales of chocolate , cakes and exchanges of gifts and hugs.

The most famous Valentine's Day in Africa is celebrated in the Maghreb countries or more precisely in Tunisia. It is called Aïd el Hob or the "feast of love". It is a very popular celebration. Lovers offer each other gifts and organize romantic outings, tête-à-tête meals and many other personalized gifts .

Other celebrations similar to Valentine's Day are held in Catalonia (Sant Jordi on April 23), Brazil (Dia dos namorados on June 12), Bolivia (Dia del amour y amistad or day of love and friendship on September 21), Wales (Saint Dwynwen on January 25), and many others.

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What do you think about Valentine's Day now?

Now you have all the information you need to know about Valentine's Day . You can then question yourself and decide whether or not you will finally celebrate the date of February 14th since you know what it hides and what it really means.