Valentines Day: The Celebration of Love

So its Valentines Day again, the one time of the year where some have a great day and others, well don't! But whats it all about? Where did it start? So I thought I would enlighten you to the secrets of Valentines Day...

Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine is actually the culmination of two people, Valentius of Rome and Valentine of Terni.
Despite popular belief neither of these people actually had nothing to do with romance or love, There is no credible reason for them to be connected to the holiday! go figure..

The Legend of St Valentine
Story 1 says that St Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by the Roman emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer.
Story 2 is a slightly differnet version. Which portrays Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail.
There is an additional modern embellishment widely repeated despite having no historical basis whatsoever. On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he would have written the first "valentines" card himself, addressed to the blind daughter of his jailor Asterius, signing as "From your Valentine."

The Beginning of the Holiday
So in the 14th Century, a man who is considered one of the greatest english poets Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the poem 'Parlement of Foules'  this was the first time that St Valentine was referenced to romance. Over time he became more and more entwined with love and in 1797 the first valentines card was produced. It became so popular that by the 1840's the first cards were being mass produced instead of being handwritten. In the U.S the practice of  giving roses and chocolates soon took hold and spread all over the world. Seeing how popular the day has become the diamond industry decided to jump on the bandwagon and in the 1980's started promoting giving jewellery as gifts. This all helped it become the commercial holiday it is today.

So there you have it. And you thought it was just about giving a card to a loved one. I have thought long and hard about it, and I have also heard some complain about the holiday. But I think that its good to have a day where you can show how much someone means to you, Life is a constant battle and sometimes you do lose sight of things. At the very least it makes you realise whats important to you. Even if the card and chocolate companies try to corrupt Valentine's that doesn't mean you should ignore it. Follow your heart and show someone you care...