The celebration of Valentine’s Day cannot leave you untouched; such is the enthusiasm that it is celebrated with. The most common symbols that one associates with Valentine’s Day are roses, hearts and cupid. St. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love and there are many legends attributed to its origin.

Claudius the cruel

One legend is set in the ancient Roman Empire. February 14 was celebrated as the day of Juno, who was considered to be the Goddess of women and marriage. The celebrations involved the pairing of eligible young men and women for the festivities and this pairing would often result in marriage. Emperor Claudius II banned these rituals as he faced a shortage of young men willing to go to war. No wonder he earned the epithet “cruel”. Claudius the cruel, who banned love. His justification was that once they got married or fell in love, young men were reluctant to join the army. So the Emperor declared engagements and marriages to be illegal.

St. Valentine to the rescue

A Roman priest called St. Valentine felt the Emperor’s dictates to be very unjust and started getting people married in secret. Once his activities became known he was jailed and later executed. So St. Valentine is considered to be the patron saint of people in love.

The first Valentine

Another incident related in this context is that while in prison St. Valentine fell in love with his jailer’s daughter who was blind. Before being taken away for execution he penned a small note for her signing it with the words “from your valentine”. Famous words used by one and all now. Legend has it that the blind girl regained her eyes as soon as she touched the note written with true love.

St. Valentine died on February 14 in 270 AD and so the day is celebrated to uphold the love that he so cherished. However many traditional customs were misused and so have been discontinued.

Some other explanations

The Catholic Church recognizes three St. Valentines. And all three were martyred. Some stories put forth the view that St. Valentine was executed, as he was found guilty of helping Christian prisoners escape from Roman prisons. In the Middle Ages, St. Valentine was a very popular saint in Europe.

Ancient Rome had a festival known as the Lupercalia festival celebrated in the month of February. There were many traditional festivities associated with this festival. As per one school of thought, the Christian Church itself introduced St. Valentine’s Day celebrations at the same time in order to weed out the earlier festivities which they considered heathen.

Another school of thought says that as in Britain and France, February 14 signified the start of the breeding season for birds it was sufficient cause to celebrate the day as one symbolic of love.

The celebrations now

Poems are exchanged among youngsters, symbolic of the last poem that Valentine sent to his beloved. And these poems have come to be known as valentines. In some places cards with poems written in them are exchanged between youngsters who want to befriend each other. These cards bear a message – “Will you be my valentine?” Acceptance heralds the beginning of a new friendship. Token gifts like flowers, candy, etc., are also exchanged. Celebrations are no fun on your own; so many social gatherings mark the occasion. These customs have spread to all parts of the world and have taken on the local flavor too.

The significance of flowers

Flowers are used extensively on Valentine’s Day to convey love and friendship. Roses are the preferred blooms. Did you know that the color of the rose conveys a meaning in itself? White roses denote true love; red roses denote passion and yellow roses signify friendship and black roses tell the sad tale of farewell.

The oldest known Valentine

A prisoner in the Tower of London wrote the oldest Valentine known today. The prisoner was the Duke of Orleans whose outpourings of emotion in the form of a poem addressed to his wife was written in 1415. It has been put up for public viewing at the British museum. Another famous Valentine was written to Catherine of Valois. The Valentine was from King Henry V, but lacking literary talents, he hired a writer to put his feelings into words!