Valentine’s Day
Many of the holidays celebrated throughout the US often have their origins shrouded in mystery.
One of the most prominent holidays this month is Valentine’s Day. Just who is Valentine, you might have asked yourself on more than once occasion, and what’s with all the Hallmark cards?
There are many legends surrounding Valentine’s Day. According to the History Channel, the most prevalent legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during third century Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice, defied his emperor and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When the emperor found out about Valentine, he ordered him to be put to death.
While in prison awaiting his sentence, Valentine fell in love with a young girl (who may have been his jailor’s daughter) who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine.” Although the truth behind the Valentine legend is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and romantic figure. It’s no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.
Secret marriages? Star crossed lover’s destined to be apart? These are the stories surrounding the origins of the holiday, and such romantic notions are central to the human spirit. The holiday has certainly taken on a life of its own with 20th Century updates to the meaning of love and romanticism (Valentine’s Day, the movie starring Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba and Ashton Kutcher comes to mind), but the truth of the legend – love and romanticism, will never be far from the human heart.
blog comments powered by Disqus