February 14th: Valentines’ Day, it is a day of love and romance. Boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife get together and be romantic on this day in February. The day all started around the third century with Saint Valentine.
The original Valentine’s Day celebration was a Latin festival called “Lupercalia” celebrated in Rome every February 15th. It was celebrated to promote health and fertility but also to purify the city where it was being celebrated in. Men and women would draw names from a box and begin dating during the festival up until it was finished. They would also often marry if they stayed together for longer than the festival, if they so desired. The church wanted to turn Lupercalia into a Christian festival instead of a Latin. They called the day Valentine’s Day because they wanted to honor the priest Saint Valentine.In the fifth century, Pope Gelasius declared February 14th Saint Valentine’s Day.
The name of “Valentine’s Day” came from a Roman priest, Saint Valentine, who was executed and martyred for arranging marriages in secret when it was forbidden in Rome at the time. The emperor of Rome at the time, Claudius II, banned marriage, because he believed men who were in a marriage would make horrible soldiers. Valentine didn’t like that, so he decided to hold private marriages. Nobody stood with him and later, Valentine was arrested and put in prison, set to be executed. While in prison, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and, before Valentine was sent to be executed for his crimes, he gave her a love letter that was signed “From your Valentine.”
In the 1840s, the first Valentines were mass produced by Esther Howland in Worcester. It caused the day to become very popular, as people could send cards to loved ones. The old cards were quite elaborate, since they featured many layers of decorations which made them very impressive.She decided to make her own and sell them, and her brother helped. She wanted $200 from the orders but instead got $5000 which gave her the idea to get them mass produced. Since then, the 14th of February is a day of love and romance for loved ones around the globe. Loved ones give each other flowers and chocolates to show how much they love them.