February 14 is the day when the hearts of lovers beat faster, the streets are filled with romance, and the shops are decorated with red hearts. Valentine's Day is celebrated all over the world, and its popularity is not inferior to St. Nicholas Day. But where does this holiday come from, and what interesting traditions exist in different countries?
History of the holiday
The exact history of this holiday is still unknown, but most traditions and legends attribute its "culprit" to the early Christian martyr Valentine, a bishop from the Italian city of Terni (a city located near Rome - ed.), who lived in the 3rd century.
According to this version, the celebration of Valentine's Day began in the Roman Empire in 270 BC, during the reign of Claudius II (268-270). While at war, Claudius supposedly did not want his soldiers to marry, believing that marriage made them weak and burdened them with family life.
However, a priest named Valentine secretly married lovers. When the ruler found out about this, the bishop was captured, subjected to severe torture and later beheaded for “anti-state” activities. On the night before his execution, which took place on February 14, 269, he wrote a love letter in verse to a girl, probably the daughter of the prison guard, with whom he had become friends in prison, and signed it: “Your Valentine”. Later, such letters were called “valentines”.
In 496, Pope Gelasius I established the Feast of Saint Valentine, which is celebrated on February 14. It is believed that he did this to supplant the pagan Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated annually on February 15. Instead, the image of Saint Valentine was intended to emphasize the spiritual dimension of love between a man and a woman.
In the 14th century, the priest Valentine was canonized for his good deeds. Since then, St. Valentine's Day has been widely celebrated in the holy world, including in Ukraine. However, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has stated that St. Valentine's Day "does not correspond to the facts of the real life of St. Valentine" and does not belong to the Orthodox tradition.
“According to one of the most popular legends, Saint Valentine “married couples in love despite the prohibition of the cruel Emperor Claudius II”… However, this legend contains a significant error in the chronology of events, because during the life of Saint Valentine in the 3rd century, there was no special rite of church wedding at all,” the OCU says.
They reminded that the Orthodox Church honors several saints named Valentine. The saint with whom Valentine's Day is associated is known in the church calendar as Saint Valentine of Interam (Italy) from the city of Terni. However, in the Orthodox tradition, he is remembered on a completely different day - August 12. And the holiday of February 14, as noted in the OCU, is associated with a pagan celebration of Roman times, which was accompanied by a sacrifice in honor of fertility and motherhood.
"Therefore, mass culture, in fact, combined the memory of a Christian saint with pagan motifs that were widespread earlier, and later turned this into commerce, encouraging the purchase of gifts," the statement says.
The OCU also calls for showing love every day, rather than giving symbolic material gifts once a year.
Ancient traditions of celebration
The prototype of Saint Valentine's Day is considered to be the pagan holiday of Lupercalia (from the Latin lupus - "wolf"). This is an ancient Roman fertility festival, named in honor of the goddess of "crazy" love and marriage Juno and the god Faunus (Lupercus - one of his nicknames), the patron saint of herds, forests, fields and fertility.
During the Lupercalia, goats and rams were sacrificed. From the skins of the slaughtered animals, whips were made, with which naked men went into the city and beat everyone they met, including women. Married women willingly allowed themselves to be beaten, believing that this would cure them of infertility and guarantee easy childbirth.
Girls would write love letters and throw them into a huge urn. The boys would pull out one letter and start courting the girl whose letter they received.
And in ancient Greece, the holiday of lovers was called Panurge. On this day, ritual games were held in honor of the deity Pan (in the Roman tradition, the god Faun - ed.), who was considered the patron of herds, fields, and fertility. The god was depicted as a little merry fellow playing the flute and pursuing beautiful nymphs with his love. Men and women wrote notes with the name of their beloved and wore them on their sleeves for a week.
Valentine's Day began to be widely celebrated in Europe around the 13th century, and this holiday came to Ukraine only in the mid-1990s.
How it is celebrated in different countries
Although Valentine's Day is a very romantic holiday, gifts and traditions vary from country to country. For example, in France, jewelry and precious stones are considered the best gifts on this day, while in Denmark, dried white flowers are considered the best gifts. In Italy, the holiday is called the sweet day, so Italians give each other sweets and cakes decorated with doves and hearts.
In Finland, February 14 is celebrated as Friends' Day, so on this day, the country's residents congratulate not only their loved ones, but also their best friends. Finns also celebrate Women's Day on this day, similar to the holiday of March 8.
But, for example, in Korea, single people who didn't receive a gift for Valentine's Day go to a restaurant for singles and eat black noodles to celebrate their loneliness.
In Holland, on this day, a woman can propose to a man she likes. If the man refuses, he must give her a silk dress. And in Canada, a man who refuses a woman can face a fine or imprisonment.
In Jamaica, Valentine's Day is a day to fight shame and timidity. There is a tradition in the country that holds "naked weddings", when the bride and groom are only wearing their wedding rings. In England, people give gifts and love messages not only to their loved ones, but also to their pets - dogs, cats and even horses.
However, there are countries where Valentine's Day is still banned. These include Iran and Saudi Arabia. The authorities of these countries believe that this holiday promotes sexual debauchery. Therefore, those who do not heed official recommendations are punished with considerable fines.
TOP-5 interesting facts
- February 14 coincides with a number of other holidays and significant dates. For example, this day is celebrated as International Book Giving Day and Computer Science Day (on this day in 1946, the first electronic computer ENIAC I was demonstrated), as well as the day YouTube was founded (the service was founded on February 14, 2005 by three employees of the American company PayPal: Chad Gurley, Steven Cheney and Jawed Karim - ed.). And in Germany, February 14 is celebrated as Mental Health Day.
- There is a town called Valentine in the US state of Nebraska. Many believe that the town was named after the first train that arrived there on February 14. In fact, the town is named after Edward Kimble Valentine, a Republican politician from Nebraska (June 1, 1843 – April 11, 1916).
- The symbol of Valentine's Day is red roses. According to legend, the goddess of love Aphrodite, hurrying to her lover, stepped on a bush of white roses, injured her leg, and her divine blood dyed them red. Since then, red roses have been a symbol of love and passion. According to rough estimates, every year on the eve of the holiday and on February 14, approximately 50 million roses are sold worldwide.
- On Valentine's Day in 2009, the Mexican capital broke the record for the most couples kissing at the same time. Nearly 40,000 lovers took part in the event.
