The History of Valentine’s Day
On February 14, people around the world celebrate love and friendship by exchanging flowers, sweets, and other cute things. But Valentine's Day is not only a holiday of love and tenderness. Various sources state, that it is shrouded in many legends, but no one knows for sure whether St. Valentine existed and did he give his beloved a romantic card for the first time.
According to one of the many legends, in 269 AD, the Roman emperor Claudius II wanted to gather a strong army to conquer the whole world. As the family institute was held by men from military service, the Emperor issued a decree on the prohibition of marriage during this service. However, the young priest Valentine did not listen to the orders and secretly married the lovers. When the emperor learned of this, he sentenced Valentine to death. But while waiting for the execution of the sentence, Valentine fell in love with the blind daughter of the jailer Julia and healed the girl. Before the tragic event happened, he left her a farewell message and signed it "Your Valentine". The priest was beheaded, and later Valentine was canonized by the Catholic Church. In 496, Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day.
Also, some sources note that St. Valentine's Day in Christian times replaced the pagan holiday of the god Faun, and according to another version of the goddess of marriage, the family of Juno, which was also celebrated annually on February 14. This replacement took place in year 496 by order of the same Pope Gelasius I.
Despite the mysterious origin of the holiday, millions of people do not miss the opportunity to celebrate it with their loved ones. After all, Valentine's Day is not only a holiday of gifts. This is a symbolic day for expressing a little more attention and kindness to those people who are close to you.
Author: Toinbayeva Amali
NIS Press — это школьная газета НИШ ФМН г. Алматы, Казахстан. Данная статья была опубликована в выпуске газеты 15 февраля 2021 г.
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