When people celebrate Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day: history and traditions, what to give, cool congratulations for SMS. Legends of Valentine
It is widely believed that Valentine's Day was specifically introduced by the Catholic Church to replace the ancient Roman holiday of Lupercalia. However, there is no reliable evidence of this, and the figure of St. Valentine itself is so vague and not associated with love that the Roman Catholic Church abandoned the liturgy on the occasion of this day. Let's understand the secret of the most romantic holiday.
Who is Saint Valentine
There are quite a few Christian saints named Valentine, and at least two of them were honored on February 14: Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni (or Interamno).
All that is known about Valentine of Rome is that he was a priest in Rome, he was killed in 269 and buried along the Via Flaminia, leading from Rome to the north.
Valentin of Terni preached in the city of Interamna (now Terni). According to his life, the Roman aristocrat Craton, when his son fell ill, despairing after the doctors’ unsuccessful attempts to cure him, called the local bishop for help. According to legend, he healed the young man with the help of prayer, because of which his entire family converted to Christianity, and when the news of this spread throughout the city, many other townspeople accepted Christianity, including the son of the mayor. The indignant mayor ordered the arrest of Valentin and demanded that he make a sacrifice to the pagan gods, and when he refused to do this, he beheaded him.
Also in connection with this date, another Saint Valentine is mentioned, about whom it is only known that he and his comrades were killed in Africa.
In the Catholic tradition, all these saints were venerated on February 14th. However, in 1969, at the Second Vatican Council, St. Valentine was excluded from the liturgical calendar, since the only certainty about him was that he was beheaded. Instead, on February 14, as in the Orthodox tradition, they began to honor Saints Cyril and Methodius. In Orthodoxy, the day of Valentine of Rome is celebrated on July 6, and Valentine of Terniy - on July 30.
The connection between the holiday and Lupercalia
It is widely believed that as a celebration of love, Valentine's Day has replaced the Roman pagan festival of Lupercalia, associated with fertility and childbirth. As part of this holiday, Roman aristocrats sacrificed animals, and then ran naked around the city and lashed women with strips of leather. Women gladly substituted, because it was believed that this would increase their ability to bear children.
Lupercalia were supposedly so popular that Pope Gelasius I tried to ban them and introduced Valentine's Day instead in 494. However, Lupercalia was a local holiday for Rome and was not celebrated anywhere else.
Some researchers have suggested that the holiday introduced by Gelasius was not Valentine's Day, but the Day of the Purification of the Holy Virgin Mary. And he introduced it in Jerusalem, because Jerusalem was the birthplace of Jesus. Later this holiday merged with the nearby Meeting of the Lord. However, this holiday also appeared after Gelasius, so the widely circulated belief that Valentine's Day replaced Lupercalia by decision of the Catholic Church turns out to be completely false.
How did the romantic connotations of this holiday arise?
The myth of Valentine's Day's connection to Lupercalia first appeared in English Catholic priest and hagiographer Alan Butler's Lives of the First Saints, written between 1756 and 1759. Most likely, in the absence of reliable information about Valentine's Day, he tried to artificially link the traditions of its celebration that already existed at that time with other, more ancient holidays. However, he does not provide any evidence for his theory. Despite this, many historians and publicists, when talking about the history of the holiday, uncritically relied on his work.
In fact, the first mentions of Valentine's Day in connection with romantic love did not appear until the 14th century. They appear in the poetry of the founder of English literature, Geoffrey Chaucer. He mentions this day as the time of the beginning of spring, when nature awakens and birds begin to sing to find a mate.
It should be noted that the connotation of spring and love is a fairly typical phenomenon. The same Lupercalia was also a celebration of fertility: both natural and female. In Greek mythology, there is a legend about Persephone, the goddess of fertility, who fell in love with Hades and annually descends to his kingdom for six months. It is during these six months that autumn and winter begin.
However, February 14 is too early for spring to begin. According to one version, Chaucer speaks of another Saint Valentine - the Archbishop of Genoa, who was supposedly venerated on May 3.
According to another version, during the time of Chaucer, Valentine's Day moved closer to the end of the month and fell on February 23. This is due to the fact that in his time they used the Julian calendar, and not the more accurate Gregorian calendar. Due to the fact that the Earth's movement around the Sun does not occur exactly in 365 days, in both calendars there is a gradual shift in calendar dates compared to the real seasons. However, if in the Julian calendar it occurs every 128 years, then in the Gregorian calendar it occurs every 10,000 years. Therefore, when in 1582 there was a transition from the Julian calendar, which at that time had been used for 15 centuries, to the Gregorian calendar, the difference between them was 10 days.
In any case, it was Chaucer and the poets in his circle who romanticized Valentine's Day and invented most of the legends associated with it, including the legend that St. Valentine was a priest who secretly married lovers, despite the emperor's ban.
Turning Valentine's Day into Valentine's Day
The final emergence of Valentine's Day as Valentine's Day occurred only in the 19th century. Until this time, it was a local English holiday, which was celebrated in different ways by peasants from different regions and the aristocracy. For example, it was customary for peasants from Norfolk to find out their betrothed on Valentine’s Day, as well as on many other religious holidays, and also give sweets to children. The aristocracy has a tradition of writing love letters. This custom appeared after the 15th century, thanks to the Duke of Orleans, who, while sitting in an English prison, sent his wife the first valentine in history.
In the 19th century, these traditions began to intertwine, as the difference between peasants and aristocrats began to disappear due to industrialization, democratization and urbanization. In addition, in the 19th century, the formation began, which provoked a fashion for turning to folk and ancient national traditions.
This, in turn, caused a surge of interest in the medieval tradition of courtly love - the ritual courtship of a knight with a beautiful lady. It was on the basis of this tradition that modern ideas about. And it just so happened that the times of courtly traditions fell precisely during the life of Geoffrey Chaucer, who, as we remember, first associated Valentine's Day with love, so that his poetry became an important source for constructing modern ideas about romance.
By the 40s of the 19th century, once a local English religious holiday, Valentine's Day caused a real romantic fever, first in Great Britain and then in the USA. Merchants quickly picked up the idea, realizing that great profits could be made from it, making money on chocolate, gifts and greeting cards, and contributed to the popularization and commercialization of the holiday. And thanks to them, the holiday spread throughout the rest of the world.
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The most romantic holiday occurs in mid-February. For many, it has already become customary to celebrate Valentine's Day; people congratulate each other and exchange small pleasant gifts. Some people even specially mark a wedding or engagement to coincide with Valentine’s Day. But not everyone knows what the history of Valentine's Day is.
Unfortunately, no one can say exactly where exactly the tradition of celebrating Valentine's Day came from. Even the true history of Saint Valentine is unknown, since at least three saints bearing this name have been canonized by the Catholic Church. But there is a beautiful legend about the origin of the holiday.
Legend
According to legend, the history of the most romantic holiday dates back to the third century. The formidable emperor of Rome at that time, named Claudius II, dreamed of conquering the whole world. And he didn’t want anything to stop him from achieving his goals.
The Emperor believed that the best warrior is a single warrior, since a married man does not want to fight, but to live in a family and raise his children. Therefore, the emperor issued a decree that categorically forbade legionnaires to marry.
However, the warriors from Claudius's army were not robots, but people. And people tend to fall in love. A priest named Valentin, perfectly understanding the danger threatening him, nevertheless secretly married lovers.
The emperor, having learned that his decree was being grossly violated, became terribly angry. The disgraced priest was captured, imprisoned and sentenced to death. The jailer's young daughter, having learned about Valentin's tragic story, wanted to meet him. An ardent feeling flared up between the young people. But Valentin did not have long to live. In a day before the execution, which fell on February 14, the priest handed his last love note to his beloved.
There is another version of the legend. According to her, the jailer's young daughter was beautiful, but blind. But, having received a farewell note from Valentin, in which he put a sprig of saffron, the girl began to see the light.
Who was Valentin?
Several priests of early Christian times can “claim” the role of the founder of Valentine’s Day. Thus, Valentine could be a Roman priest executed by order of the emperor in 269. But perhaps the title of the most romantic saint deserves the bishop of Interamna, who had the ability to heal the sick. This priest was also executed because, thanks to him, many young people converted to Christianity.
When did the holiday appear?
The day dedicated to Saint Valentine was established in 496 by papal decree of Gelasius I.
However, in the second half of the twentieth century, during reforms in the Catholic Church, Saint Valentine was crossed out from the canonical calendar. Of course, such a fate befell not only Valentine, but also a large number of Roman saints, about whose life and activities no reliable information has been preserved.
So modern Valentine's Day is an exclusively secular holiday, not a church holiday.
According to the Catholic calendar, February 14 is the day of veneration of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In the Orthodox Church, the day of remembrance of Roman Valentine is present, but it falls on July 19 (new style).
Echoes of paganism
Many Christian holidays are based on pagan festivities. Valentine's Day is no exception. Many believe that the history of the holiday begins much earlier than the advent of Christianity.
During the times of Ancient Rome, the holiday of Lupercalia was extremely popular among young people. It was dedicated to eroticism and fertility. A holiday was held in honor of two deities at once - the goddess of love Juno and the satyr god Faun. This holiday was celebrated in mid-February. This month was the New Year's Eve (the year for the Romans began on the first of March), so at this time it was necessary to take stock and make plans for the next year.
The holiday began at the Capitoline Hill, where animals were sacrificed to Faun, who patronized cattle breeding. Belts were cut from the skin of killed bulls and given to young men. The guys, having previously stripped naked, ran around the city, whipping the girls and women they met with belts. Interestingly, this method of “courtship” did not cause protests among the ladies. Moreover, they willingly exposed their sides and backs, since it was believed that this ritual would make women more fertile and provide them with an easy birth.
The celebration continued the next day. On this day, girls dominated. They put signs with their names in a large vase. And the men had to take out one tablet at a time. That is, a kind of lot was drawn. The girl whose nameplate the guy took out should become his girlfriend for this year. No one asked the guy’s opinion about whether he liked the girl he would have to court.
A holiday somewhat similar to the ancient Roman Lupercalia, it was also celebrated in Rus' during the pagan period. True, it was celebrated not in February, but at the end of June (according to the old style, if counted according to the new style, then at the beginning of July), and was dedicated to Kupala - the god of fertility and the Sun.
Young boys and girls decorated themselves with flowers, sang songs, danced in circles, and jumped over fires.
These days the holiday is known as Ivan Kupala night, since after the introduction of Christianity this day fell on the day of remembrance of John the Baptist.
Tradition and modernity
The traditions of celebrating Valentine's Day have, of course, changed somewhat over the years. But one thing remained unchanged - the custom of exchanging love notes, which became known as “Valentines.”
The oldest known “Valentine” is a love letter in verse sent by the Duke of Orleans to his young wife from a cell in the Tower of London. This “Valentine” dates back to 1415.
And starting from the mid-18th century, in the countries of Europe and America it became a habit to exchange small tokens of attention and notes with declarations of love. In the twentieth century, homemade “Valentines” were practically replaced by ready-made cards printed in printing houses. But these days it has again become fashionable to give handmade “Valentines”.
At the beginning of the last century, It became fashionable for young people to send their lovers sweet gifts - marzipan. This delicacy was not cheap back then, so it was a very generous gift. Over time, marzipan was replaced by chocolate. And confectioners quickly figured out how to make additional profit and began producing sweets in the shape of hearts.
In Japan Valentine's Day began to be celebrated only in the 30s of the last century. But in the Land of the Rising Sun, special traditions have developed. On this day it is customary to congratulate only men. Girls give their chosen ones purely male accessories (razors, belts, etc.).
Holiday in Russia began to be celebrated in the 90s of the last century. But it has already become incredibly popular; it is celebrated by people of all ages, from kindergarteners to pensioners, because, as you know, love knows no age.
Why did this holiday become a favorite in Russia so quickly? The answer is simple: during a long winter, any person wants more warmth and love. And here comes another reason to remember your loved ones. Therefore, people are happy to exchange pleasant gifts and recognition.
Valentine's Day is celebrated annually on February 14 in most countries of the world: for more than one and a half thousand years, millions of people have declared their love for each other on this day. Sputnik tells the most interesting stories of the origin of Valentine's Day.
Ancient Roman Lupercalia
One version of the origin of Valentine's Day says that it was transformed from the festival of Lupercalia, dedicated to fertility and named after the patron of flocks, the god Faun (also nicknamed Luperc). It was celebrated every year on February 15th.
According to tradition, men on this day sacrificed animals, made unique whips from their skins, stripped naked and ran through the city, hitting every woman they met along the way. Women willingly exposed themselves to blows: it was believed that a blow with a whip on this day would give fertility. The ritual was extremely widespread in Rome: there is evidence that even members of noble families participated in it.
Later it became so popular that it survived many pagan traditions that disappeared with the advent of Christianity. It is worth noting that many historians deny the connection between the Roman “festival” and the later Christian celebration and consider it nothing more than a guess.
Golden legend about the patron saint of all lovers
The most romantic story about Saint Valentine is associated with the prohibition of the powerful Roman Emperor Claudius II from getting married: he believed that men who were not burdened with a family would fight with greater zeal on the battlefield.
Saint Valentine was a priest and, according to some sources, a doctor. Out of pity for the unhappy lovers, he secretly married them (and also reconciled those who had quarreled and helped those who were not eloquent write love messages).
When the emperor found out about his activities, the priest was put in prison and sentenced to death. There Valentin met the beautiful daughter of a prison guard, who fell in love with him. Some legends contain information that, due to the vow of celibacy, the priest was unable to respond to her feelings, but on the eve of the execution (February 13) he wrote a love letter to the girl, signing “Your Valentine.”
Another legend about Saint Valentine
Another version says that Valentine was a noble Roman patrician and secret Christian who converted his servants to the new faith. One day he performed a wedding ceremony for the lovers, but all three were detained by guards.
Being a member of the upper class, Valentin could have avoided execution, but chose to give his life for the newlyweds. He wrote letters to his fellow believers in the form of red hearts, symbolizing Christian love. Before his execution, Valentin gave the last letter, sanctified by faith and kindness, to a blind girl, who regained her sight and became a beauty. This is where the modern tradition of giving valentines may originate.
By the way, Valentine was canonized, but in the second half of the twentieth century, the celebration of his memory as a general church saint was stopped, and, transforming the calendar of saints, the Roman Catholic Church removed his name from there, without finding any accurate information about the martyr.
History of the Valentine card
The creation of the very first Valentine is also attributed to the Duke of Orleans, who wrote love letters from a London dungeon to his own wife.
They gained popularity already in the 18th century, especially in England: there, cards made of multi-colored paper signed with colorful ink were exchanged as gifts.
February 14 – “Valentine’s Day” or “St. Valentine’s Day” is another false holiday. Over the past two decades, many new and unusual things have begun to appear in the CIS countries, which today have become firmly established in our daily lives. Not only different goods are coming to us from the West and the East, but also new traditions, terms, behavioral stereotypes and holidays. Among the latter is “Valentine’s Day” or “Valentine’s Day,” which is widely celebrated in the West and now in our country.
Who was the person with the name who is associated with the tradition of celebrating “Valentine’s Day”? In numerous publications appearing on the eve of February 14, you can read the following beautiful legend.
“The Christian religion was outlawed when the priest Valentine preached in Rome in the 3rd century. During the time of Emperor Claudius II (268-270), the war with the Goths began and the recruitment of young people into the army was announced. But those who were married did not want to leave their wives, and those who were in love did not want to leave their loved ones. In anger, Claudius banned marriage ceremonies, but Valentine disobeyed the order and continued to marry young people. This made Valentine the friend of all lovers in Rome, but infuriated the emperor. Valentine was captured, imprisoned and executed on February 14, 269. On the eve of his execution, he sent a letter to the daughter of the prison governor, who was his lover. In the letter, Valentin said goodbye to her, thanked her for everything and signed: “Your Valentin.” This is what started the Valentine's Day tradition."
At first glance, everything seems very plausible and historically verified. But in fact it is completely untenable. Firstly, because the sacrament of weddings was formed in the Church only in the Middle Ages, in the 3rd century such a ritual simply did not exist. This means that Valentin did not marry anyone.
Secondly, a priest cannot marry. A priest, if he has not married before his ordination, loses his canonical capacity to marry. Otherwise, he commits a great sin, for which he is punished by defrocking. Thus, for Valentin, if he were a priest, the appearance of a new lover would mean the fact of betrayal either to his wife or to his faith. Under such circumstances, such a person simply could not be glorified as a saint.
The earlier history of Valentine's Day dates back to the Lupercalia of Ancient Rome. Lupercalia is a fertility festival in honor of the goddess of “feverish” love Juno Februata and the god Faun (Luperc is one of his nicknames), the patron saint of herds, which was celebrated annually on February 15.
In the ancient world, infant mortality was very high. In 276 BC. e. Rome nearly died out as a result of an “epidemic” of stillbirths and miscarriages. The oracle informed that in order to increase the birth rate, a ritual of corporal punishment (flogging) of women using sacrificial skin is necessary. People who, for whatever reason, had few or no children were considered damned and resorted to mystical rites to gain the ability to bear children. The place where the she-wolf, according to legend, fed Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome) was considered holy by the Romans. Every year, on February 15, a holiday called “Lupercalia” (Latin lupa - “she-wolf”) was held here, during which animals were sacrificed. Scourges were made from their skins. After the feast, the young people took these whips and ran naked through the city, hitting the women they met along the way with the whip. Women willingly exposed themselves, believing that these blows would give them fertility and an easy birth. This became a very common ritual in Rome, in which even members of noble families participated. There is evidence that even Mark Antony was a Luperc.
At the end of the celebrations, the women also stripped naked. These festivals became so popular that even when many other pagan holidays were abolished with the advent of Christianity, this one still existed for a long time.
The holiday began its victorious procession in the form in which we now know it from America in the 19th century. This “holiday” was invented by managers of the American Postal Service’s marketing service. The idea is simple. After a severe crisis, money was needed, preferably more, which the population would pay voluntarily. A person will not pay if his pride is not flattered - which means that you need to come up with a reason that encourages action. For example, give a card with words of love and an image of a heart - and you will show that you love and are ready to make happy, if not the whole world, then definitely your loved ones. This is how postcards with words of love appeared that could be given in honor of a certain “Saint Valentine”, and they were sold for millions of dollars, bringing unexpected profits.
Cupid (or Cupid) is another symbol of “pure and beautiful” Love. But few people know that in Ancient Greece, where he was called Eros, celebrations were held in honor of this plump baby with a bow and quiver of arrows - the so-called. erotidia, which reunited in a passionate impulse, including persons of the same sex.
The advertising industry has been very successful in imposing these dubious symbols. As a rule, people are guided in their actions by the herd instinct. Living by the principle “like everyone else, so am I,” many, without hesitation, run to the shops on February 14, raking postcards from the shelves with a projection of a female part of the body visible from behind, making their modest contribution to the commercialization of love.
In pursuit of increased profits, merchants transferred the symbols of hearts and doves with the word LOVE to other gift items - from glass trinkets to giant cakes, and the sincere wishes of love and loyalty of ordinary people and the selfish aspirations of cunning people became a tradition throughout the West.
In 1847, a certain Esther Howlent managed to make a decent fortune for herself by making Valentine's Day cards based on samples that existed in England. Many of them were not at all chaste, and even indecent. Little boys relieving themselves on girls running away in all directions, lustful girls and suicide rope nooses hanging from ceiling beams are just some of the images. Every year, E. Haulent earned $100 thousand from this. Every year, 1 billion greeting cards are sent out around the world on this day. Of these, 85% are bought by women who are so susceptible to romantic suggestions.
Opponents of this holiday in the West (there are some) call Valentine's Day a holiday of Hallmark, the world's largest manufacturer of greeting cards. In 2007, according to the American press, Hallmark earned $4 billion from people's feelings. Nowadays, love is measured in dollars.
“Valentine’s Day” is one of those newfangled holidays whose names do not at all indicate their ideological load. This day is celebrated with show programs and quizzes with piquant jokes. Many schools and gymnasiums strive to fulfill the “ritual” side of the holiday. A mailbox is installed in a prominent place, into which everyone from a first-grader to the school principal strives to drop off their “Valentine” with a declaration of love. Lessons fade into the background, everyone finds out who is in love with whom. In the evening there must be a disco with a program appropriate to the moment.
According to Allen Dulles's plan:“We will take on people from childhood, from adolescence, and we will place the main emphasis on youth. We will begin to corrupt, corrupt, corrupt them... We will quietly replace their values with false ones and force them to believe in these false values...” sex education, generously sponsored by various Soros, swept through the youth of Russia like a heavy steamroller. Those who publish youth magazines, pharmaceutical products, etc. made very good money from this.
Taking a closer look, we will see that in these “days” of rampant passions, the female half of the population is still more motivated and involved, ranging from little girls to fully mature women. They prepare for these “days” for a long time and expect a lot from them.
But what are they expecting? Of course, Love! And they receive it in the form of paper, cardboard and chocolate hearts, sweets and cakes and, of course, in the form of special attention.
Men of different ages are much more relaxed about “Valentine’s Day” and “Women’s Day”, not very well understanding what is expected of them on these days, but trying to justify these expectations and even use them as much as possible to achieve their purely masculine goals.
But after the “feast of the soul” (and not only the soul), a severe hangover sets in. For women and girls - accidental pregnancies, broken hearts, devastated Souls.
Since Soviet times, when statistics could be trusted, data has been known according to which, after the national celebration of “Women’s Day,” there was a significant surge in the number of abortions and the birth of so-called “holiday children,” i.e. children with various psychophysical disabilities. It is clear that Valentine's Day is no exception. Durex says condom sales increase by 20-30% the day before and on the day itself.
In addition to this, the bloody harvest - abortifacient "material" (body parts of murdered children used in the cosmetics industry) provides additional profits to the writers and directors of these "holidays".
Why are explanations about the background of all these “Valentine’s Days” so far ineffective? Because it is very difficult and often impossible to rationally deal with what is in the emotional sphere.
Why don’t young people want to hear about what is actually hidden behind these “days”? Most likely, because they are attracted by the word “love” in our harsh world, in which “love is becoming scarce.” Torn early from their parents and having gone through the “nursery-kindergarten” system, not caressed by parental love, not protected by it, but having grown thorns and prickles, they, like air, search for love for the rest of their lives and end up with just such substitutions. For them, love is no longer warmth, comfort, a lot of joint household chores and conversations. Parents who devote all their time and energy to earning money build purely functional relationships with their children: feed, clothe, put on shoes, provide entertainment. Mentally and spiritually undeveloped children also cannot give to anyone what they themselves have not received. It’s much easier to buy a paper or chocolate heart, give it to someone and forget about it. Now this is called love.
Love-look, love-secret, love-state - disappear. Actions of love appear. Love becomes a function. These were experiences before. Now everything is moving into objective activity. The subtlety of emotional experiences disappears.
This holiday instills a false concept of love, a substitution of concepts occurs. True Love is, first of all, chastity. It cannot sound otherwise than in combination with the words “family” and “family union.” The traditional family, which has always been based on the principles of love and mutual respect, is today forced to give way. For many people, family has ceased to be the most important component of their happiness and meaning in life, and is often perceived by them only as a temporarily necessary period in life that interferes with personal freedom. If a strong family without love and mutual respect is simply unthinkable, then for a free and non-binding relationship all that is required is love. This means that with the decline in the role of the family institution, the weight of holidays directly related to marriage and true Love also decreases.
Under the guise of a beautiful holiday, love is replaced by infatuation. And this substitution is barely noticeable for an undemanding person. Please note that it is not “Family Day” or “Love Day” that is celebrated, but “Valentine’s Day”. Who they are is not specified. And everyone interprets to their heart’s content as it suits them. Meanwhile, it turns out that not only legal spouses, but also other categories of persons can be considered lovers - from a young gigolo to the boss’s concubine, from a representative of a sexual minority to a “priestess of love.” And all this was wrapped in the robe of St. Valentine. Interestingly, even the famous Encyclopedia Britannica in 2000 diplomatically noted the lack of connection between “Valentine’s Day” and Saint Valentine himself or the events of his life.
The most disgusting thing is that children are very actively involved in this action. If quite recently the problem was how to prevent premature “adult” relationships, now they are literally pushing them towards them. Moreover, parents and teachers! How else can we understand the obsessive offer to draw “Valentines”, where there must be a boy and a girl (note, not a boy and a girl!)? How should we understand the proposal to write love notes to each other, so that teachers (!) will deliver them to the recipients?
An analytical document prepared by employees of the Moscow State Pedagogical University and the Moscow Department of Education notes that the so-called “Valentine’s Day” is an immoral holiday aimed at turning intimate feelings into a general and public event, and also exploits base feelings and perverts the very concept of love.
In 2011, in order to prevent the spread of Western culture, Valentine cards, teddy bears and other attributes of Valentine's Day were banned in Iran. In addition, some religious activists in India and Pakistan protest Valentine's Day as a holiday of fornication and shame. They view it as a Western celebration where people satisfy their sexual desires.
People, Love must be given regardless of the holidays. As for postcards and trinkets, these are absolutely useless things, just human whims, for which our Planet has to pay with its resources. Calculate how many trees need to be cut down to make cards, so that people all over the Planet can give each other cards for the holiday, which they can do without. Calculate how many resources are needed to make trinket gifts. And then count how many holidays are celebrated a year and how many cards and trinkets are given for all these holidays. People are being brainwashed: “Consume, consume, consume and don’t think about anything! There is no holiday without cards and gifts!” Now people are just consumers, consuming absolutely thoughtlessly, not realizing that with every purchase they consume the resources of the Planet, which do not have time to recover so quickly, do not keep up with the pace of consumption. As a result, we have an environmental disaster, and every consumer is involved in it. If you want to give something to the people you love, then give them love and attention. If you want to spend money, then instead of all sorts of trinkets and postcards, feed homeless people, animals, and finally, buy seedlings and plant a tree for your loved ones. This will be of greater benefit than gifts and cards.
It is worth thinking about whether it is necessary to continue celebrating this holiday according to the imposed habit, exchanging useless gifts. Maybe it’s better to remember our NATIVE holidays? Lyudmila Vasilchenko talks very well about nature-appropriate holidays in her lecture.
Good afternoon, dear readers!
Today we have a romantic theme, because February 14, Valentine's Day, is coming soon. Modern society does not condemn feelings and does not force them to hide.
But in the historically foreseeable past, it often happened that insurmountable obstacles related to the customs and traditions of society could stand in the way of uniting loving hearts. The first who began to help the lovers was the Christian priest Valentin.
He suffered martyrdom for his beliefs. I would like to remind you that if you are in love with someone, then this is your holiday too. Whether to celebrate or not is up to you. So let's remember the history of Valentine's Day on February 14th.
I will say right away that, unfortunately, there is no reliable, much less documentary, data about the appearance of Valentine's Day. The origin of the holiday can be traced back to 496 AD, when Pope Gelasius decided to declare February 14 as the day of veneration of the martyr St. Valentine.
And there was no talk of patronizing lovers. But the story began earlier, when in the 3rd century, one Christian priest began to secretly marry the loving legionnaires of Emperor Claudius with their chosen ones. Why secretly?
After all, the persecution of Christians has decreased somewhat. And performing rituals according to Christian customs was acceptable. The fact is that the warlike emperor did not want his soldiers to marry, because in this case they would not want to fight and would be tied to home and family.
Therefore, he issued a law banning marriages for legionnaires. But people are people, they fell in love, and if the love was mutual, they wanted to be together. According to legend, Valentine secretly married couples who approached him with a request to perform the ceremony.
He also treated the sick, reconciled quarreling lovers, and delivered love letters. When the authorities found out about this, the priest was immediately thrown into prison, and his sentence was death. Valentin was young, educated and handsome; the jailer's daughter fell in love with him.
He could not reciprocate her feelings, because, upon accepting the priesthood, he took a vow of celibacy. Before his execution, he wrote a note to the girl in love, in which he confessed his feelings for her, and signed himself “Your Valentine.”
Whether this note actually existed, we will no longer know. What is recorded in historical chronicles is the existence of several Christian priests named Valentine who lived at that time and suffered martyrdom for their faith at the hands of pagans. But whether they held secret weddings of legionnaires is not written anywhere...
What happened next?
The first person to give a romantic aura to Valentine's Day was the medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. In his poem “The Parliament of Birds,” he wrote that on this day birds begin to look for a mate.
The first “Valentine” known to us was written by Duke Charles (Charles) of Orleans. Sitting in prison and suffering from boredom, he began to write love letters to his wife. “Valetins” became very popular in the 18th century, when they were made only by hand to the best of one’s artistic taste and talent.
Postcards began to be printed by typography at the end of the 19th century. By the way, it was not customary to sign them; the recipient had to guess who the sender was.
As you remember, in the Middle Ages the cult of the Beautiful Lady existed for a long time, although in the late Middle Ages it was no longer widespread. Nevertheless, it is true that already in the 18th century, in England and Scotland the custom arose of finding an object not for worship, but for communication and flirtation.
The young people got together and drew tickets with the names of the girls, and then for a whole year, starting on February 14, they were a couple. This is where concepts such as “your Valentine” or, accordingly, “your Valentine” came from.
No one changed their name, but for each other the boy and girl could be called that way. Then gifts - flowers, sweets, and even jewelry - became a tradition, and the celebration began to be limited to one day. The custom captivated young people and spread to other European countries, then reached America.
How do they celebrate now?
Nowadays February 14 is a purely secular holiday. The Catholic Church canceled the canonization of Saint Valentine, given that there is no reliable information about him. And earlier for the church it was a day of veneration of a saint, and not a day of lovers.
For Catholics, this date is now the day of Saints Cyril and Methodius. The holiday traditions of Valentine's Day in different countries where this holiday is widely celebrated may differ in some ways, but in general the holidays have a lot in common.
It is customary to give Valentine cards. They come in the shape of a heart or simply with romantic symbolism; sign it or not - as the author of the message wants. The girl is always given sweets, especially chocolate.
The boxes and the candies themselves are also often heart-shaped. A girl is not obliged to give sweets to a young man. But if you live in Japan, then only girls give chocolates to guys, and not only lovers, but also friends and even colleagues.
She will receive return gifts exactly in a month. Everything else - soft toys, jewelry, flowers - depends on the imagination and financial capabilities of the donor. Even though we have gender equality, girls usually receive these gifts.
Despite the current commercialization of the holiday, it is still very personal; it should be celebrated not en masse, but with your other half. It still shouldn’t be organized as a public event, especially for children. In some Muslim countries, the holiday is completely prohibited.
In Russia, February 14 began to be celebrated quite recently - approximately from the mid-90s of the last century. The Orthodox Church does not welcome Valentine's Day because it still considers it immoral, and celebrates St. Valentine's Day on February 14. Tryphon.
The church is even more condemned by the Feast of All Saints, or Halloween (October 31). An alternative to Western Valentine's Day is the Day of Love and Fidelity, July 8, the day of Saints Peter and Fevronia.
Let the love be long and, most importantly, mutual! And gifts can and should be given regardless of the date. Love each other and be happy!
And Ekaterina Chesnakova was with you with hearts, valentines and gifts!
