On February 14th, every year, lovers wear their heart on their sleeve and show their feelings for one another through celebration. This is the day of love and affection that we call Valentine’s Day.
As with every other holiday, there is a story behind the reason for celebrating on Valentine’s Day and showering each other with flowers, love, and chocolate.
One tale dates way back to the 3rd century B.C., thousands of years ago, there was a saint named Valentine who lived as a priest in the kingdom of Saint Claudius II. This king had the notion that strong family bonds and loving relationships weaken his soldiers, so in an attempt to have a stronger military, marriage was outlawed and strictly forbidden for young men.
Saint Valentine, who spent most of his life helping to tie the bonds of love between couples in the kingdom, disagreed with the king and disobeyed his orders by secretly continuing to coordinate marriages secretly.
Eventually, the king caught wind of what Saint Valentine was doing and sentenced him to death on, you guessed it, February 14th. Ever since his death, that day in February has been celebrated in honor of love and the spirit of Saint Valentine.
Another version of the Saint Valentine story tells a tale of the man being held captive who was in love with his jailer’s daughter. The day that he was to be put to death is still the same, February 14th, but in this version, it was the a love letter that he wrote to his lover on the day of his death that sparked the Valentine’s day celebration.
The love letter was said to have been signed Your Valentine, and started the tradition of sharing love letters and gifts to express the love and affection that one had for another.
Obviously, it’s extremely difficult to know the real story behind Saint Valentine, but the important part that holds true in every version is that he was an idol of love and stood strong to fight for it.
Remember that it is the tradition of love that is celebrated on Valentine’s day every year and although material things play a big part of the celebration in our society, it is the true message of love that matters the most.
