| People have been in love from time immemorial. It | | | | marry to make better soldiers out of single men, a |
| would be unjust to ascribe any particular history and | | | | priest named Valentine defied the orders and secretly |
| origin to love and the feelings that come with it. But | | | | married young couples. Consequently he was |
| Valentine's Day, the day which celebrates love | | | | beheaded on February 14 for his 'crime'. Some even |
| worldwide, sure has a history and origin of its own. | | | | hold that Valentine was killed for trying to help |
| February is historically chosen to be the month of love | | | | Christians escape the atrocities prevailing in the Roman |
| and romance and the month to celebrate Valentine's | | | | prisons. But whatever the facts, ever since, February |
| Day. Can you possibly overlook the deluge of | | | | 14 came to be celebrated as Valentine's Day |
| love-drenched feelings, the slushy outbreak of 'being in | | | | commemorating this great patron of people in love |
| love' and the pervasion of the color red all around | | | | worldwide. The other story talks of another Valentine |
| when the calendar turns to the month of February? | | | | who was a children's favorite but was despised by the |
| No. None of us can! For, the one thing that's | | | | Romans for his religious defiance. The Romans had |
| inextricably linked to the month of February is | | | | him behind the bars but the children still managed to |
| Valentine's Day--the most coveted celebration after | | | | send fond messages to their favorite Valentine. The |
| Christmas and a day kept aside to let love rule | | | | current custom of exchanging love messages on |
| everywhere. Come what may, the hype and hoopla | | | | Valentine's Day might have roots to this age-old tale. |
| surrounding Valentine's Day never goes unnoticed, no | | | | Yet another legend holds that when Valentine was in |
| matter which part of the world you are placed in! And | | | | prison, he fell in love with the prison guard's daughter. |
| Valentine's Day incidentally is the 2nd largest | | | | And history states that before his death, he wrote a |
| card-sending occasion, after Christmas. | | | | letter to his beloved signing off as 'From your |
| Valentine's Day has shadows of both the Christian and | | | | Valentine'. It's not known to which extent these |
| Roman traditions. Celebrated famously on February 14 | | | | Valentine's Day legends related to its origin are true, |
| every year, some believe that Valentine's Day has its | | | | but this expression 'From your Valentine' sure caught |
| history and origin in the ancient Roman festival of | | | | hold like wildfire. And people still send gifts and cards |
| Lupercalia. The latter was an annual feasting and | | | | on Valentine's Day with this tag hanging from |
| celebration by the Romans to keep fearful wolves at | | | | them--'From your Valentine'! So you keep the tradition |
| bay from damaging their crops. Lupercalia was | | | | going too. |
| celebrated on February 15 with the young men striking | | | | Probably, the Americans began exchanging handmade |
| the women because it was believed that these blows | | | | Valentine's Day cards in the early years of the |
| would make them more fertile. This association of | | | | eighteenth century. And around 1840, a person called |
| Lupercalia with fertility is probably one reason why | | | | Esther A. Howland began selling the first big production |
| Valentine's Day is linked to this ancient Roman festival. | | | | of Valentine's Day greetings in America. Now, apart |
| Also, on the eve of Lupercalia, which is on February 14, | | | | from all the facts and figures of Valentine's Day |
| it was quite popular for young women to find their | | | | history and origin, one thing that's for sure is the choice |
| partners for the festival. The romantic origin of | | | | of February as the month for celebrating love. In |
| Valentine's Day can even be traced to this practice. | | | | ancient Rome, February was the official kick-off month |
| No matter what the history and origin of Valentine's | | | | for the season of spring and was a time to feel happy |
| Day includes, it sure includes this patron saint named | | | | all over again. Then in the Middle Ages, it was quite a |
| St. Valentine. Now history even has it that there has | | | | popular belief in France and England that February |
| been more than one legend related to St. Valentine. | | | | was the birds' mating season. All these and many |
| Summing two legends, we now know that there were | | | | more taken together contributed to the consolidation of |
| two saints (of the same name Valentine) belonging to | | | | mid-February as the time for Valentines. |
| the early Christian church. One legend holds that when | | | | Finally, around 498 AD, Pope Gelasius I declared |
| the Roman Emperor Claudius II forbade young men to | | | | February 14 as St. Valentine's Day! |