St. Valentine’s Day is an extremely popular holiday celebrated each year on February 14th. It’s a time to exchange romantic expressions, gifts and messages of love and affection. But why exactly do we celebrate love on a holiday named after an ancient saint? The origins explain how a Christian feast day became today’s modern, commercialized celebration of romance.
Who Was St. Valentine?
To understand the roots of the holiday, we first look back to early Christian history in the Roman Empire and the man who inspired its name – St. Valentine.
However, the history is murky – little reliable information exists about St Valentine or St Valentine, as there may have been two different saints named Valentine that inspired the holiday. Here are the key details:
Valentine of Rome
There was a St. Valentine who was a priest in 3rd-century Rome. At that time, Emperor Claudius II decided single younger men made better soldiers so he banned young marriages. Yet Valentine continued to illegally marry young lovers in secret ceremonies. When discovered, Claudius ordered Valentine’s execution, and he died a martyr.
Valentine of Terni
There was also a St. Valentine who served as bishop of Terni, Italy. He was killed around 197 AD and also under persecution. He may have been born in Terni, arrested in Rome, and later killed in Terni where he returned as bishop.
In the early Catholic Church, February 14th perhaps marked a St. Valentine’s feast day celebrating one or both of these Christian martyrs named Valentine. However, little else links these supposed martyrs to love. So how did the saint become associated with this theme?
Evolution of Saint to Romance
Some scholars claim the Medieval Church co-opted the pagan holiday of Lupercalia – a Roman fertility festival occurring in mid-February – by linking it to St Valentine’s feast day. By Christianizing this ancient celebration, the practice better aligned with church doctrine. What started with a martyred saint eventually shifted focus to courtly love by the Middle Ages.
Origins of Valentine’s Day Romantic Traditions
By the late Middle Ages, St. Valentine had become tied to romance. In England and France, believers began celebrating Valentine’s feast day by exchanging cards, flowers, gifts and verses alluding to love. Various customs emerged around this time linked to famous writers and mythical origins.
Geoffrey Chaucer
Some credit Geoffrey Chaucer’s (c. 1370) poem “Parliament of Fowls” for first connecting St. Valentine with romance. His work refers to February 14th as the day when birds choose their mates for the upcoming year.
Links Back to Ancient Pagan Festival
In ancient Rome every February, young Romans celebrated Lupercalia. Its customs involved putting girls’ names in a box for bachelors to draw from to pair up romantically with for the festival. This may have later contributed to associating Valentine’s Day with love matches.
Mythical Origins
Legend says St Valentine himself sent the first ‘Valentine’ greeting, allegedly a love letter, to a woman while imprisoned signed “From your Valentine.” Another tale suggests he fell in love with his jailor’s daughter and sent her a letter signed “from your Valentine” on the eve of his death. Neither myth is verifiable.
But by the Middle Ages, Valentine’s Day had clearly evolved to celebrate courtly, chivalrous love as shown through cards, poems, singing ballads and love tokens exchanged between sweethearts and prospective couples.
Spread of Valentine’s Day Traditions
Eventually, Valentine’s Day caught on more widely in Great Britain and Europe by the 17th and 19th centuries, with handwritten notes and gifts being exchanged. Publication of the first mass-produced Valentine’s cards in America in the 1840s went on to play a big role in cementing February 14th’s association with romantic love.
Victorian Cards
In England, Victorian valentines became extremely elaborate, decorated with flowers, lace, ribbons and images of cupids or lovebirds. Cards incorporated multiple layers, mechanical parts that moved up and down, intricate designs and expensive materials like silk and satin fabric.
Commercial American Cards
In 1847, Esther A. Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts began selling one of the first commercially produced Valentine’s Day cards. She became known as the “Mother of the Valentine” for marketing high volumes of cards across America. Others followed her lead selling affordable printed cards featuring lace, flowers and verses about love.
Cultural Resonance
By the late 19th century, exchanging Valentine’s cards had culturally crystallized as a way to express emotions of fondness and affection to sweethearts or prospective partners. As society shed its strict Victorian norms about romance, Cards began featuring images of cherubs, angels and mythology invoking notions of romantic love.
Today’s Traditions
Today in nations globally, February 14th remains most celebrated for love, overwhelmingly by couples in romantic partnerships. Typical traditions centre on spending special time together, the exchange of cards and gifts, romantic date activities, proposals and weddings.
Why Do We Still Celebrate Valentine’s Day?
What began as a feast honouring an Early Christian saint has certainly evolved quite drastically into today’s celebration emphasizing romantic love. What explains St. Valentine’s continued relevance today?
Commercialization
Undeniably commercialization plays a major role in driving modern Valentine’s popularity – by the early 20th century consumer culture had capitalized on love’s marketability for profits. Candy makers, jewellers, florists, restaurants, card makers and more advertise mid-February promotions, sales and romance-themed products appealing to coupled partners.
Consumer Spending
On Valentine’s today, American consumer spending on gifts, cards and date activities totals approximately $20 billion annually. Over 52% of consumers participate as buyers per the National Retail Federation’s data. Clearly, capitalism tapped into strong cultural underpinnings linking February 14th with expressing romantic love interests via purchasing and exchanging consumer goods.
Positive Benefits
Despite commercial dimensions, for a lot of couples, Valentine’s Day carries positive meaning in their relationships. They enjoy having a designated day emphasizing affection. It fosters opportunities to strengthen bonds by showering partners with gifts and undivided focus. Having an annual marker gives procrastinators deadline prompting that might not happen organically.
Reversal of Gender Roles
As American women moved increasingly into the paid workforce during the 20th century, they exercised growing economic freedom and spending power around shopping. Candy, flowers and cards turned into gendered courtship commodities during the post-war economic boom. Advertising pitched men on impressing women via fanciful Valentine’s gifts.
Cultural Tradition
Practices dating back hundreds of years hold remarkable staying power, particularly ones bringing joy. The positive feelings stemming from romantic gestures established longstanding cultural traditions still anticipated come mid-February. Couples don’t want to miss out on relishing romanticized affection.
Withstanding Religious Changes
Ironically, while religious devotion to St. Valentine has dissipated over time, dedication to Valentine’s Day has not faltered —its customs outlasted the piety of its namesake for many. The holiday has persisted despite fading knowledge of St. Valentine’s narrative and loosening societal ties to church traditions. Romance’s appeal has independently sustained its remembrance.
Secular Transition
In today’s increasingly secular society, the holiday maintains popularity in part by transitioning substantially into a more secularized celebration of affection detached from formal church ties. Its religious origins feel largely irrelevant to how it’s observed presently. Valentine’s endurance over time owes credit to the holiday morphing to align with evolving societal values.
| Category | Explanation | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Origins | Honored early Christian saint Valentine | Feast day possibly inspired by one or two martyred saints |
| Co-opted pagan Lupercalia festival | Roman fertility festival in February | |
| Later medieval traditions linked holiday to love | Poetry, exchanging cards, flowers, love tokens | |
| Traditions | Victorian England popularized cards | Intricate lace, ribbon, mechanical parts |
| Mass produced cards in 1840s America | Esther Howland first commercial cards | |
| Gifts and date rituals persist today | Candy, flowers, jewelry common gifts | |
| Significance | Commercialization drives modern popularity | Billions in consumer spending on gifts and dates |
| Positive meaning for many couples | Strengthens bonds through quality time, gifts | |
| Reversed medieval gender dynamics | Post-war ads pitched men wooing women | |
| Enduring cultural tradition and rituals | Customs outlasted religious origins | |
| Channeling emotions into acceptable patterns | Orders courting practices before marriage | |
| Signals commitment and tightens social bonds | Extravagance shows depth of care |
Significance of Romance Ritualization
Scholars studying rituals note that we commemorate Valentine’s Day with an unusual degree of elaborate, planned preparation – booking dinners out, buying gifts in advance, and making weekend getaway plans. Efforts put into romanticizing this one day appear unique compared to other holidays. What deeper meaning does this signify?
Channeling Human Emotions
Anthropologists believe rituals help structure and channel powerful human emotions that feel confusing or chaotic if left unguided. Directing intense feelings of ardour into acceptable patterns of flowers, candy, and date nights – tames deeper passions into gentle vehicles for connecting with chosen sweethearts.
Ordering Human Life Stages
Sociologists suggest rituals also help order expected life stages – guiding singles safely into relationships and transitioning dating pairs into engagements. Prescribed February romance rites reinforce social norms around courting, marriage proposals and wedding planning for age-appropriate recipients.
Strengthening Social Bonds
Excelled execution of prescribed Valentine’s traditions demonstrates a commitment toward a partner – gift extravagance, event thoughtfulness and financial sacrifice symbolize the depth of care. Partners believe the effort devoted proves relationship’s importance. Fulfilling customary expectations thereby tightens the couple’s social bonds.
Conclusion
What began centuries ago as a holiday honouring an early saint named Valentine has remarkably endured through shifting cultural attitudes over time. By continuously reinventing itself from a religious feast day to a secularized celebration centred squarely on romance, St. Valentine’s Day retains relevancy today. Customs emphasizing affection clearly continue channelling meaningful human emotional needs. And practices ritualizing romantic expression withstand centuries by strengthening social bonds between loving partners. Though the exact details of St Valentine’s narrative remain uncertain, the power of love’s story certainly endures.
