The Valentine-Day’s Reality

The celebration of Valentine’s Day cannot leave you untouched; such is the enthusiasm that it is celebrated with. The most common symbols that one associates with Valentine’s Day are roses, hearts and cupid. St. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love and there are many legends attributed to its origin.

Claudius the cruel

One legend is set in the ancient Roman Empire. February 14 was celebrated as the day of Juno, who was considered to be the Goddess of women and marriage. The celebrations involved the pairing of eligible young men and women for the festivities and this pairing would often result in marriage. Emperor Claudius II banned these rituals as he faced a shortage of young men willing to go to war. No wonder he earned the epithet “cruel”. Claudius the cruel, who banned love. His justification was that once they got married or fell in love, young men were reluctant to join the army. So the Emperor declared engagements and marriages to be illegal.

St. Valentine to the rescue

A Roman priest called St. Valentine felt the Emperor’s dictates to be very unjust and started getting people married in secret. Once his activities became known he was jailed and later executed. So St. Valentine is considered to be the patron saint of people in love.

The first Valentine

Another incident related in this context is that while in prison St. Valentine fell in love with his jailer’s daughter who was blind. Before being taken away for execution he penned a small note for her signing it with the words “from your valentine”. Famous word.