Tomorrow is Valentine's Day...The day of LoVe...
I usually don't celebrate Valentine's Day because I feel like every day should be full of love with your significant other. I am truly lucky and blessed to be able to say that my spouse loves me unconditionally every single day of the year.
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| I want to take re-take this picture like this when we're old & gray together. |
So what does Valentine's Day mean? How did it come about? Do you know the reason for the holiday? If not, then allow me to explain.
St
Valentine's Day was supposedly started in the time of the Roman Empire. In
Ancient Rome, the date of February 14 was a holiday to honor the Queen of Roman
Goddesses and Gods, Juno. Juno was known as the Goddess of women and marriage.
The next day February 15 was the first day of the Festival known as the Feast
of Lupercia.
On
February 14 is was said that the young boys and girls of the villages would
write down the names of every girl and place these names in a jar of which each
young man would have to draw a name of a girl and this particular maiden would
be their partner for the duration of the festival. Sometimes these parings
would last a year and end up in marriage.
These
rituals under the laws of Claudius were banned as the Emperor believed that the
reasons why men would now go to war were because they did not want to leave
their lovers or families. As a result all marriages and engagements were
canceled as a result Saint Valentine a Roman priest was said to have married
these couples in secret and for this he was executed on the 14th day of
February.
While
St Valentine was in jail it is said that he fell in love with the jailers’
daughter. By a miracle or some say by the prayers of Valentine she gained her
sight and as a last farewell in a note he was to "From Your
Valentine".
Another
story as to the origins of Valentine's Day was that he was a priest who was
also a physician and would cure the sick. He was also said to have tried to
cure the jailers blind daughter, but, was arrested and on the day of his
execution he wrote a note as a final farewell saying "From your Valentine"
which some say is what caused her to gain her sight.
It
is also said whilst he was in jail awaiting execution that he was sent little
notes and flowers from the children whom he had helped when they were sick.
This also may have been one of the reasons why he sent a farewell note to the
jailers’ daughter and why we send valentines.
St
Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 of each year; the reason why it is
celebrated on this day is because this was the day that the Patron Saint of
Lovers "St Valentine" was supposedly executed on. On this day lovers
all around the world mark this occasion as a day for sending poems, cards,
flowers or candy, etc. They might also be a social gathering or ball to mark
the occasion.
Another
Interesting origin is that St Valentine was the patron Saint of Epilepsy reason
was that he was supposedly a sufferer and took a keen interest in those who
suffered from this affliction and also that those who suffered this disease
were suffering from Valentine's sickness.
