Why I hate Valentines Day

by Morning Star

Valentine's Day: A history of Valentines Day.

Who is St. Valentine?

No-one, really. Well, no-one that anyone can pinpoint. According to Roman Catholic martyrology, St. Valentine is a name associated with more than one individual. In fact, the feast of St. Valentine was first established in the year 496 by a Pope who is documented as saying that the name was included "among those whose names are justly reverenced among men but whose acts are known only to God." The Catholic church recognizes about 7 Saint Valentines. "He" is recognized in their official list of saints - however his feast day was removed and reduced to a simple commemoration. He gets more recognition in areas of Italy which are believed to be in possession of "his" relics (things owned by the saint themselves or actual pieces or parts of their body).

Why is Valentines Day associated with February 14th?

The date is associated with the burials and canonization of some of the above mentioned Saint Valentines. Valentine of Rome was a priest who was martyred around 269 AD. Another man, Valentine of Terni, became a bishop around 197 AD. The recognized feast day of these saints used to be held on February 14th but was removed as a feast day by the Catholic Church due to scarcity of information. The name was not associated with love until the 14th century and by that time, all distinctions between the Valentines were totally lost.

OK but how did Valentines Day get associated with love?

By all accounts, no-one really knows. The most common mention of a Saint Valentine being associated with romantic love is an over-fluffed legend. Supposedly, Saint Valentine was a Christian priest who was persecuted by Roman Emperor Claudius II for marrying young couples. The Emperor had allegedly created a law that forbade young men to get married because he believed married men made bad soldiers. Once Claudius found out Valentine was carrying out clandestine marriages, he had him thrown in jail.

Secret or forbidden love was a big seller back then, just as it is today. In fact, to make the already fictitious legend even more embellished, an American greeting card company added their own made-up aspect; that while imprisoned, the priest had written the first "valentine" to his beloved which was signed "From your Valentine" (and you thought I was just being cynical about the greeting card companies). Therefore the word valentine became associated with a secret lover and the first valentines given to women by their mystery admirers.

Besides this legend, we can point towards the already existing practice of 'Christianizing' pagan celebrations just as it was done with Easter, Halloween, etc. Christians who wanted to gain more followers tweaked existing Christian holidays/feast days to make them look like Pagan holidays. When Pagans converted (either by force or by their own will) they also got their traditions and symbols mixed with this "new" religion. Some influences were the longstanding Greco-Roman holidays in the month of February that referenced love and fertility and an archaic fertility festival in Ancient Rome called Lupercalia which took place from February 13th-15th.

So does the history of Valentines Day make any sense?

This is all a very much shortened explanation of how Valentines Day came to be. Over time it took on a life of its own and therefore has no definitive explanation or starting date. In the 1700's a British publisher provided romantic verse to young men suffering from writers block. Verses written on elaborate cards and paper became so popular in England that it became big business to manufacture Valentines cards. Flowers were already a flattering gift for a woman so the sale of flowers and candy (another luxury people tended to favour) rose with the giving of Valentines cards. In the 1980's, the diamond industry jumped on the bandwagon and jewellers marketed diamonds as an absolute must for Valentines Day. As a result, the holiday has taken on a life of its own around the world.

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