What are the origins of Valentine’s Day? When did the celebration of love begin?
Actually there are a few stories about
Valentine’s Day’s humble beginnings, but interestingly enough all were early
Christian martyrs, Priests named Valentine.
.
The first was martyred sometime around 270 AD
because under Claudius the Cruel’s reign, marriage was “banned” because he felt
the men were so strongly attached to their wives and families that they were
refusing to join the army. The priest,
Valentine, believing this was unjust married young lovers in secret. For that, he was arrested, beaten, and
beheaded on February 14. The story passed down says
that he became friends with the jailer’s daughter and before he died he sent
her a note and signed it, “From your Valentine”.
The other two priests named Valentine who
were martyred were a Bishop named Valentine in Italy and a priest named
Valentine who was a martyr in Africa.
It is believed the day became associated with
romance around 496 AD when Pope Gelasius declared that February 14 would be
celebrated as St. Valentine’s Day. Prior
to that the people in that area had celebrated a pagan festival of love where
young women’s names were put in a box and young men drew out their “loves”
name.
It’s most interesting that the intent and
origin of Valentine’s Day in the church was to replace a pagan feast of
love. The church intended for the
holiday to mean much more than choosing someone to love and show affection for
on that day. The initial intent was to make it
a Christian holiday that celebrated love that comes from God, to remember the
sanctity of marriage, and to remember the Christian martyrs who fought for the
early Christian church.
Exercise today: contemplate what God would
have Valentine’s Day mean to you…
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