The
Origins of Saint Valentine and Valentine's Day
by Rachel Keller
On February 14, Valentine's Day,
millions of sweethearts will exchange valentines. Who was
Saint Valentine and why do we celebrate it?
History
Sources disagree, but according to the Hallmark Historical
Collection, at least eight St. Valentines have existed. The
most popular, by far, was a third-century young Christian
martyr, Valentinus. Imprisoned for failing to worship false
gods, Valentinus became friends with the jailor's young, blind
daughter. Legend records that he restored her sight shortly
before his execution on February 14, 269 AD. He sent the maiden
a farewell signed, "from your Valentine."
The Roman calendar marks February 14 as the feast day of two
third century Roman martyrs, both named St. Valentine. Some
historians, however, believe the two martyrs were one and
the same.
Until AD 494, the Romans celebrated their pagan love festival
of Lupercalia on February 15 in honor of Faunus, the god of
flocks and fertility, ensuring the fertility of people, fields
and flocks for the year. Pope Gelasius replaced the popular
festival with the Christian Feast of the Purification of the
Virgin in 494 to try and stop the pagan celebration. Although
the celebration ceased, Lupercalia left its mark on Saint
Valentine's Day. St. Valentine is the patron saint of lovers.
Origins of Valentines
As early as the Middle Ages, lovers recited or sang valentine
greetings to their sweethearts, since few could read or write.
In 1415, the Frenchman Charles, duke of Orleans, made the
first known written valentine. Some of his valentine poems
that he wrote while imprisoned by the English are in the British
Museum.
Part of the Roman festival of Lupercalia was the putting of
girl's names in a box and letting the boys draw them out.
The boys then courted those girls for the whole year. A similar
practice of matching of sweethearts by lot occurred during
the fourteenth century to correspond to the belief that the
springtime mating of birds took place on Valentine's Day.
Messages sent between these randomly chosen pair were a forerunner
of the modern Valentine's Day Card. Specially printed card
for Valentine's were just becoming common by the 1780's. They
were a big hit in Germany where they were called Freundschaftkarten,
or "friendship cards."
Valentine's Day became popular in the United States through
the efforts of Esther Howland. In 1847, she received a lacy
valentine from England. She began making her own valentines
to sell in her father's shop. Her cards became so popular
that she started her own business and earned close to $100,000
a year. (See Do You Know What Day Tomorrow Is? by Lee B. Hopkins
and Misha Arenstein.)
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"I Love You" in other
languages
(pronunciation in parenthesis)
French: Je t'aime (jeh TE-mm)
Spanish: Yo te amo (yoh te A-moh)
Italian: Io ti amo (e-o tee A-moh)
German: Ich liebe dich (eeksh Lee-beh
deeksh)
Hebrew: Ani ohev otach (ah-Nee o-HEV
O-tach)
Japanese: Watakushi-wa anato-wo aishimasu
(WA-ta-SHE-was an-A-ta-o-ah-e-she-MA-sue)
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Resources
Valentine's Day by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House, 1986) for
young readers
Hearts, Cupids, and Red Roses: The Story of Valentine Symbols
by Edna Barth (Clarion Books, 1974) for middle-grade readers
20 Valentine Poems selected by Myra Cohn Livingston (Holiday
House, 1987) for all ages.
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Bibliography
Do You Know What Day Tomorrow Is? (1990) by Lee Bennett Hopkins
and Misha Arenstein, published by Scholastic.
"Valentine's Day Celebration" (p. 43) from McCall's (February,
1989).
"Lupercalia" (1993) Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge (Vol
11).
"Saint Valentine" (1993) Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge
(Vol 19).
Copyright 2001 by Rachel Keller
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