Love it or hate it…..its on its way, February 14th is Valentines Day!
But why do we do it? Why do we find ourselves rushing out to the
shops yet again (as if Christmas wasnt bad enough) to buy yet another
pressie for our special someone to enjoy. Do they?
Rumour has it that the origin of Valentines Day all started back in Rome.
So who was Saint Valentine? Well, that hasnt been established as
there were three different Saint Valentines and all were martyred.
There are many stories that suggest the Valentines Day origin stems
from the Roman Empire during the reign of emperor Claudius II. Claudius
believed that all married men turned out to be poor and weak soldiers
and this made him against the idea of marriage between two young
couples. When Claudius realised that Saint Valentine had defied him and
was secretly encouraging young lovers to get married, he passed orders
for his death. So it was on the 14th February when the great Saint
Valentine died, around 270 AD.
Many stories also suggest that Saint Valentine himself initiated the
concept of sending love messages, he would write notes and end by
signing ‘from your valentine’. Stories suggest that during his
imprisonment he fell in love with the jailor’s daughter and expressed
feelings for her by writing her a love letter.
As time moved on, this story was passed from generation to
generation and the number of stories no doubt grew. But people still
believe to this day that Valentine was a very romantic person and he
was the one who initiated lovers all over the world to express their
feelings to their valentine.
Today of course, Valentines Day is a huge commercial importance.
Many people all over the world buy cards, gifts, flowers, chocolates,
etc for their loved one with the main symbols of Valentine being, of
course, hearts, flowers and cupids.
