Family Circle

Love. Cupid. Cards. Hearts. These all represent the day of love, Valentine’s Day. But how did this lovely day come to be? Why do we celebrate it? Why should we even bother to send expensive jewelry and flowers?

Valentine’s Day is celebrating St. Valentine. The character is so lost in history that we do not even know if we are celebrating one or two or even three saints of the same name. All we know is that he(or they) is a saint and that all the Valentines are buried in a church in Via Flaminia north of Rome. They can be:
1) A priest in Rome
2) A bishop of Interamna (Terni)
3) A martyr in the Roman province of Africa.

The Feast of Valentine was first celebrated in Rome, year 496. Now, it is traditionally celebrated on the Fourteenth of February. That is when the cards get sent around, hugs and kisses get exchanged, and flowers are bought.

The legend says that St. Valentine was forced to worship an idol. St. Valentine refused and said that he would never believe in any other god than God. He would always remain loyal. Emperor Claudius, brimming with anger, called for him to be beheaded. But right before he got beheaded, St. Valentine restored sight and sound to the blind and deaf daughter of the jailer. The jailer noticed, unfortunately, after the beheading, but immediately hurried the emperor and the emperor suddenly respected Valentine and changed religion.

But- who’s this? There’s a little flying baby boy buzzing around my head! He has a pack of bows and arrows and shooting them to make people fall in love! This is Cupid, or Eros, the God of Love, son of the Goddess of Love, Venus, or Aphrodite. Eρως, as he is called in Greek, would be portrayed as a winged baby or boy, naked or with a diaper. He carries a set of bows and arrows and shoots them to make people fall in love.

But that is all myths and history. Now, flowers are bought, cards are exchanged. In schools, classes will sometimes do a Valentine exchange, when each student gives valentine cards to the rest of the class. Couples would go out for a romantic dinner together; they will buy flowers, jewelry, and other symbols of love. Children might send valentines to neighbors and friends. Valentine’s Day is surely a day of love.