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Valentine's Day

February 14, 2023

This article is about the romantic holiday and liturgical celebration. For other uses, see Valentine's Day (disambiguation).
"St. Valentine's Day" redirects here. For the Bing Crosby album, see St. Valentine's Day (album).

Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine,[1] is celebrated annually on February 14.[2] It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, through later folk traditions, has become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.[3]

Valentine's Day
A Valentine's card, c. 1909
Also calledSaint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine
Observed byPeople in many countries;
Anglican Communion (see calendar)

Lutheran Church (see calendar)

Traditionalist Catholicism (see calendar)
TypeChristian, romantic, cultural, commercial observance
SignificanceFeast day of Saint Valentine; the celebration of love and affection
ObservancesSending greeting cards and gifts, dating, church services, novenas
Date
FrequencyAnnual

There are a number of martyrdom stories associated with various Valentines connected to February 14,[4] including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century.[5][6] According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer.[7] Numerous later additions to the legend have better related it to the theme of love: an 18th-century embellishment to the legend claims he wrote the jailer's daughter a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell before his execution;[8] another tradition posits that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry.[6]

The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14.[9][10] The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by association with the "lovebirds" of early spring. In 18th-century England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.[11] In Italy, Saint Valentine's Keys are given to lovers "as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver's heart", as well as to children to ward off epilepsy (called Saint Valentine's Malady).[12]

Saint Valentine's Day is not a public holiday in any country, although it is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion[13] and the Lutheran Church.[14] Many parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrate Saint Valentine's Day on July 6 in honor of Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and on July 30 in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni).[15]

Saint Valentine

Main article: Saint Valentine

History

 
Shrine of St. Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland

Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine.[16] The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae).[17] Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who was martyred in 269 and was added to the calendar of saints by Pope Gelasius I in 496 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. The relics of St. Valentine were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome, which "remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV [1288 - 1292]".[18][19] The flower-crowned skull of Saint Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics are found at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.[20]

Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna (now Terni, in central Italy) and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian in 273. He is buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location from Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino). Professor Jack B. Oruch of the University of Kansas notes that "abstracts of the acts of the two saints were in nearly every church and monastery of Europe."[21] A relic claimed to be Saint Valentine of Terni's head was preserved in the abbey of New Minster, Winchester, and venerated.[22]

The Catholic Encyclopedia speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.[23]

February 14 is celebrated as St. Valentine's Day in various Christian denominations; it has, for example, the rank of 'commemoration' in the calendar of saints in the Anglican Communion.[13] The feast day of Saint Valentine is given in the calendar of saints of the Lutheran Church.[14] In the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feast day of Saint Valentine on February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar and relegated to particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason: "Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14."[24]

The feast day is still celebrated in Balzan (Malta) where relics of the saint are claimed to be found, and also throughout the world by Traditionalist Catholics who follow the older, pre-Second Vatican Council calendar (see General Roman Calendar of 1960).

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, St. Valentine is recognized on July 6, in which Saint Valentine, the Roman presbyter, is honoured; in addition, the Eastern Orthodox Church observes the feast of Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on July 30.[25][26][27]

Legends

 
St Valentine baptizing St Lucilla, Jacopo Bassano.

J.C. Cooper, in The Dictionary of Christianity, writes that Saint Valentine was "a priest of Rome who was imprisoned for succouring persecuted Christians."[28] Contemporary records of Saint Valentine were most probably destroyed during this Diocletianic Persecution in the early 4th century.[29] In the 5th or 6th century, a work called Passio Marii et Marthae published a story of martyrdom for Saint Valentine of Rome, perhaps by borrowing tortures that happened to other saints, as was usual in the literature of that period.[29][30]

The same events are found in Bede's Martyrology, which was compiled in the 8th century.[29][30] It states that Saint Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer Asterius. The jailer's daughter and his forty-six member household, family members and servants, came to believe in Jesus and were baptized.[31][29]

A later Passio repeated the legend, adding that Pope Julius I built a church over his sepulchre (it is a confusion with a 4th-century tribune called Valentino who donated land to build a church at a time when Julius was a Pope).[30] The legend was picked up as fact by later martyrologies, starting with Bede's martyrology in the 8th century.[30] It was repeated in the 13th century, in The Golden Legend.[32]

There is an additional embellishment to The Golden Legend, which according to Henry Ansgar Kelly, was added in the 18th century and widely repeated.[33] On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he is supposed to have written the first "valentine" card himself, addressed to the daughter of his jailer Asterius, who was no longer blind, signing as "Your Valentine."[33] The expression "From your Valentine" was later adopted by modern Valentine letters.[34] This legend has been published by both American Greetings and The History Channel.[35]

 
Saint Valentine of Terni and his disciples

John Foxe, a Sixteenth Century English historian, and the Order of Carmelites state that Saint Valentine was buried in the Church of Praxedes in Rome, located near the cemetery of Saint Hippolytus. This order says that according to legend, "Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship."[36][37]

Another embellishment suggests that Saint Valentine performed clandestine Christian weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry.[38] The Roman Emperor Claudius II supposedly forbade this in order to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers.[38][39] However, George Monger writes that this marriage ban was never issued and that Claudius II told his soldiers to take two or three women for themselves after his victory over the Goths.[40]

According to legend, in order "to remind these men of their vows and God's love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment", giving them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St. Valentine's Day.[41]

Saint Valentine supposedly wore a purple amethyst ring, customarily worn on the hands of Christian bishops with an image of Cupid engraved in it, a recognizable symbol associated with love that was legal under the Roman Empire;[39][42] Roman soldiers would recognize the ring and ask him to perform marriage for them.[39] Probably due to the association with Saint Valentine, amethyst has become the birthstone of February, which is thought to attract love.[43]

Folk traditions

While the European folk traditions connected with Saint Valentine and St. Valentine's Day have become marginalized by modern customs connecting the day with romantic love, there are still some connections with the advent of spring.

While the custom of sending cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts originated in the UK, Valentine's Day still remains connected with various regional customs in England. In Norfolk, a character called 'Jack' Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children. Although he was leaving treats, many children were scared of this mystical person.[44][45]

In Slovenia, Saint Valentine or Zdravko was one of the saints of spring, the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and pilgrims.[46] A proverb says that "Saint Valentine brings the keys of roots". Plants and flowers start to grow on this day. It has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences. It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day. Another proverb says "Valentin – prvi spomladin" ("Valentine – the first spring saint"), as in some places (especially White Carniola), Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring.[47] Valentine's Day has only recently been celebrated as the day of love. The day of love was traditionally March 12, the Saint Gregory's day, or February 22, Saint Vincent's Day. The patron of love was Saint Anthony, whose day has been celebrated on June 13.[46]

Connection with romantic love

Possible ancient origins

The "Feast" (Latin: "in natali", lit.: on the birthday) of Saint Valentine originated in Christendom and has been marked by the Western Church of Christendom in honour of one of the Christian martyrs named Valentine, as recorded in the 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary.[21][10] In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia was observed February 13–15 on behalf of Pan & Juno, pagan gods of love, marriage & fertility. It was a rite connected to purification and health, and had only slight connection to fertility (as a part of health) and none to love. The celebration of Saint Valentine is not known to have had any romantic connotations until Chaucer's poetry about "Valentine's Day" in the 14th century, some seven hundred years after celebration of Lupercalia is believed to have ceased.[29]

Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier" or "the chaste Juno", was celebrated on February 13–14. Although the Pope Gelasius I (492–496) article in the Catholic Encyclopedia says that he abolished Lupercalia, theologian and Methodist minister Bruce Forbes wrote that "no evidence" has been demonstrated to link St. Valentine's Day and the rites of the ancient Roman purification festival of Lupercalia, despite claims by many authors to the contrary.[notes 1][22][48][49]

Some researchers have theorized that Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with the celebration of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and claim a connection to the 14th century's connotations of romantic love, but there is no historical indication that he ever intended such a thing.[notes 2][49][50] Also, the dates do not fit because at the time of Gelasius I, the feast was only celebrated in Jerusalem, and it was on February 14 only because Jerusalem placed the Nativity of Jesus (Christmas) on January 6.[notes 3] Although it was called "Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary", it also dealt with the presentation of Jesus at the temple.[51] Jerusalem's Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary on February 14 became the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple on February 2 as it was introduced to Rome and other places in the sixth century, after Gelasius I's time.[51]

Alban Butler in his The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints (1756–1759) claimed without proof that boys and girls in Lupercalia drew names from a jar to make couples, and that modern Valentine's letters originated from this custom. In reality, this practice originated in the Middle Ages, with no link to Lupercalia, with boys drawing the names of girls at random to couple with them. This custom was combated by priests, for example by Frances de Sales around 1600, apparently by replacing it with a religious custom of girls drawing the names of apostles from the altar. However, this religious custom is recorded as soon as the 13th century in the life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, so it could have a different origin.[22]

Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls

The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is believed to be in the Parliament of Fowls (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer, a dream vision portraying a parliament for birds to choose their mates.[29] Honouring the first anniversary of the engagement of fifteen-year-old King Richard II of England to fifteen-year-old Anne of Bohemia,[52] Chaucer wrote (in Middle English):

"For this was on seynt Valentynes day
Whan every foul cometh there to chese his make
Of every kynde that men thynke may
And that so huge a noyse gan they make
That erthe, and eyr, and tre, and every lake
So ful was, that unethe was there space
For me to stonde, so ful was al the place."[53][54]

In modern English:

"For this was on Saint Valentine's Day
When every bird comes there to choose his match
Of every kind that men may think of
And that so huge a noise they began to make
That earth and air and tree and every lake
Was so full, that not easily was there space
For me to stand—so full was all the place."

Readers have uncritically assumed that Chaucer was referring to February 14 as Valentine's Day. Henry Ansgar Kelly has observed that Chaucer might have had in mind the feast day of St. Valentine of Genoa, an early bishop of Genoa who died around AD 307; it was probably celebrated on 3 May.[52][55][56] A treaty providing for Richard II and Anne's marriage, the subject of the poem, was signed on May 2, 1381.[57]

Jack B. Oruch notes that the date on which spring begins has changed since Chaucer's time because of the precession of the equinoxes and the introduction of the more accurate Gregorian calendar only in 1582. On the Julian calendar in use in Chaucer's time, February 14 would have fallen on the date now called February 23, a time when some birds have started mating and nesting in England.[29]

Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls refers to a supposedly established tradition, but there is no record of such a tradition before Chaucer. The speculative derivation of sentimental customs from the distant past began with 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, the author of Butler's Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars. Most notably, "the idea that Valentine's Day customs perpetuated those of the Roman Lupercalia has been accepted uncritically and repeated, in various forms, up to the present".[22][58]

Three other authors who made poems about birds mating on St. Valentine's Day around the same years: Otton de Grandson from Savoy, John Gower from England, and a knight called Pardo from Valencia. Chaucer most probably predated all of them; but due to the difficulty of dating medieval works, it is not possible to ascertain which of the four may have influenced the others.[59]

Court of love

The earliest description of February 14 as an annual celebration of love appears in the Charter of the Court of Love. The charter, allegedly issued by Charles VI of France at Mantes-la-Jolie in 1400, describes lavish festivities to be attended by several members of the royal court, including a feast, amorous song and poetry competitions, jousting and dancing.[60] Amid these festivities, the attending ladies would hear and rule on disputes from lovers.[61] No other record of the court exists, and none of those named in the charter were present at Mantes except Charles's queen, Isabeau of Bavaria, who may well have imagined it all while waiting out a plague.[60]

Valentine poetry

The earliest surviving valentine is a 15th-century rondeau written by Charles, Duke of Orléans to his wife, which commences.

"Je suis desja d'amour tanné
Ma tres doulce Valentinée..."

— Charles d'Orléans, Rondeau VI, lines 1–2[62]

At the time, the duke was being held in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415.[63]

The earliest surviving valentines in English appear to be those in the Paston Letters, written in 1477 by Margery Brewes to her future husband John Paston "my right well-beloved Valentine".[64]

Valentine's Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (1600–1601):

"To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more."

— William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5
 
Noted poet John Donne, c. 1595.

John Donne used the legend of the marriage of the birds as the starting point for his epithalamion celebrating the marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England, and Frederick V, Elector Palatine, on Valentine's Day:

"Hayle Bishop Valentine whose day this is

All the Ayre is thy Diocese
And all the chirping Queristers
And other birds ar thy parishioners
Thou marryest every yeare
The Lyrick Lark, and the graue whispering Doue,
The Sparrow that neglects his life for loue,
The houshold bird with the redd stomacher
Thou makst the Blackbird speede as soone,
As doth the Goldfinch, or the Halcyon
The Husband Cock lookes out and soone is spedd
And meets his wife, which brings her feather-bed.
This day more cheerfully than ever shine

This day which might inflame thy selfe old Valentine."

— John Donne, Epithalamion Vpon Frederick Count Palatine and the Lady Elizabeth marryed on St. Valentines day

The verse "Roses are red" echoes conventions traceable as far back as Edmund Spenser's epic The Faerie Queene (1590):

"She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew,
And all the sweetest flowres [sic], that in the forrest grew."[65]

The modern cliché Valentine's Day poem can be found in Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784), a collection of English nursery rhymes published in London by Joseph Johnson:

"The rose is red, the violet's blue,

The honey's sweet, and so are you.
Thou art my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,

And Fortune said it shou'd be you."[66][67]

Modern times

 
An English Victorian era Valentine card located in the Museum of London

In 1797, a British publisher issued The Young Man's Valentine Writer, which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called "mechanical valentines." Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid-19th century.[68] In 1835, 60,000 Valentine cards were sent by post in the United Kingdom, despite postage being expensive.[69]

A reduction in postal rates following Sir Rowland Hill's postal reforms with the 1840 invention of the postage stamp (Penny Black) saw the number of Valentines posted increase, with 400,000 sent just one year after its invention, and ushered in the less personal but easier practice of mailing Valentines.[70] That made it possible for the first time to exchange cards anonymously, which is taken as the reason for the sudden appearance of racy verse in an era otherwise prudishly Victorian.[71] Production increased, "Cupid's Manufactory" as Charles Dickens termed it, with over 3,000 women employed in manufacturing.[70] The Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection at Manchester Metropolitan University gathers 450 Valentine's Day cards dating from early nineteenth century Britain, printed by the major publishers of the day.[72] The collection appears in Seddon's book Victorian Valentines (1996).[73]

 
Flowers, such as red roses (pictured), are often sent on Valentine's Day.

In the United States, the first mass-produced Valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland (1828–1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts.[74][75] Her father operated a large book and stationery store, but Howland took her inspiration from an English Valentine she had received from a business associate of her father.[76][77] Intrigued with the idea of making similar Valentines, Howland began her business by importing paper lace and floral decorations from England.[77][78]

A writer in Graham's American Monthly observed in 1849, "Saint Valentine's Day ... is becoming, nay it has become, a national holyday."[79] The English practice of sending Valentine's cards was established enough to feature as a plot device in Elizabeth Gaskell's Mr. Harrison's Confessions (1851): "I burst in with my explanations: 'The valentine I know nothing about.' 'It is in your handwriting', said he coldly."[80] Since 2001, the Greeting Card Association has been giving an annual "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary".[75]

Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.[11] In the UK, just under half of the population spend money on their Valentines, and around £1.9 billion was spent in 2015 on cards, flowers, chocolates, and other gifts.[81] The mid-19th century Valentine's Day trade was a harbinger of further commercialized holidays in the U.S. to follow.[82]

 
A gift box of chocolates, which is a common gift for Valentine's Day

In 1868, the British chocolate company Cadbury created Fancy Boxes – a decorated box of chocolates – in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day.[83][84] Boxes of filled chocolates quickly became associated with the holiday.[83] In the second half of the 20th century, the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manner of gifts, such as giving jewelry.

The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US. Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife, usually to children. When the valentine-exchange cards made in school activities are included the figure goes up to 1 billion, and teachers become the people receiving the most valentines.[74] The average valentine's spending has increased every year in the U.S, from $108 a person in 2010 to $131 in 2013.[85]

The rise of Internet popularity at the turn of the millennium is creating new traditions. Millions of people use, every year, digital means of creating and sending Valentine's Day greeting messages such as e-cards, love coupons or printable greeting cards. Valentine's Day is considered by some to be a Hallmark holiday due to its commercialization.[86]

In the modern era, liturgically, the Lutheran Church and Anglican Church have a service for St. Valentine's Day (the Feast of St. Valentine), which includes the optional rite of the renewal of marriage vows.[87][88] In 2016, the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales established a novena prayer "to support single people seeking a spouse ahead of St Valentine's Day."[89]

Celebration and status worldwide

 
A Canadian Women's Army Corps member and a man in the Canadian Air Force chalk hearts on a tree on Valentine's Day 1944

Valentine's Day customs – sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"), offering confectionery and presenting flowers – developed in early modern England and spread throughout the English-speaking world in the 19th century. In the later 20th and early 21st centuries, these customs spread to other countries, like those of Halloween, or than aspects of Christmas, (such as Santa Claus).

Valentine's Day is celebrated in many East Asian countries with Singaporeans, Chinese and South Koreans spending the most money on Valentine's gifts.[90]

Americas

Latin America

In most Latin American countries, for example, Costa Rica,[91] Mexico,[92] and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, Saint Valentine's Day is known as Día de los Enamorados ('Day of Lovers')[93] or as Día del Amor y la Amistad ('Day of Love and Friendship'). It is also common to see people perform "acts of appreciation" for their friends.[94]

In Guatemala it is known as Día del Cariño ('Affection Day').[95] Some countries, in particular the Dominican Republic and El Salvador,[96] have a tradition called Amigo secreto ("Secret friend"), which is a game similar to the Christmas tradition of Secret Santa.[94]

Brazil

Main article: Dia dos Namorados

In Brazil, the Dia dos Namorados (lit. "Lovers' Day", or "Boyfriends'/Girlfriends' Day") is celebrated on June 12, probably because that is the day before Saint Anthony's day, known there as the 'marriage saint',[citation needed] when traditionally many single women perform popular rituals, called simpatias, in order to find a good husband or boyfriend. Couples exchange gifts, chocolates, cards, and flower bouquets. The February 14 Valentine's Day is not celebrated at all because it usually falls too little before or too little after the Brazilian Carnival[97] – that can fall anywhere from early February to early March and lasts almost a week. Because of the absence of Valentine's Day and due to the celebrations of the Carnivals, Brazil was recommended by U.S. News & World Report as a tourist destination during February for Western singles who want to get away from the holiday.[98]

Colombia

Colombia celebrates Día del amor y la amistad on the third Saturday in September instead.[99] Amigo Secreto is also popular there.[100]

United States

 
Conversation hearts, candies with messages on them, are strongly associated with Valentine's Day in the United States.
 
African American Valentine's school dance, Richmond, Virginia 1956

On the United States mainland, about 190 million Valentine's Day cards are sent each year, not including the hundreds of millions of cards school children exchange.[101]

Valentine's Day is a major source of economic activity, with total expenditures in 2017 topping $18.2 billion in 2017, or over $136 per person.[102] This is an increase from $108 per person in 2010.[85] In 2019, a survey by the National Retail Federation found that over the previous decade, the percentage of people who celebrate Valentine's Day had declined steadily. From their survey results, they found three primary reasons: over-commercialization of the holiday, not having a significant other, and not being interested in celebrating it.[103]

Asia

Afghanistan

In pre-Taliban years Koch-e-Gul-Faroushi (Flower Street) in the down town Kabul used to be adorned with innovative flower arrangements to attract Valentine's Day celebrating youth.[104] In the Afghan tradition, love is often expressed through poetry. Some new generation budding poets like Ramin Mazhar, Mahtab Sahel are expressing themselves through poetry using Valentine's Day expressing concerns on any likelihood of erosion of freedoms. In their political comment they defy fear by saying 'I kiss you amid the Taliban'.[105][106]

Bangladesh

Main article: Valentine's Day in Bangladesh

Valentine's Day was first celebrated in Bangladesh by Shafik Rehman, a journalist and editor of Jaijaidin in 1993. He was acquainted with Western culture by studying in London.[107] He highlighted Valentine's Day to the Bangladeshi people through Jaijaidin newspaper. Rehman is called the "father of Valentine's Day in Bangladesh".[108] On this day, people in various bonds including lovers, friends, husbands and wives, mothers and children, students and teachers express their love for each other with flowers, chocolates, cards and other gifts. On this day, various parks and recreation centers of the country are full of people of love.[109][110] No public holiday is declared on this day in Bangladesh.

Some in Bangladesh feel that celebrating this day is not acceptable from a cultural and Islamic point of view.[111] Before the celebration of Valentine's Day, February 14 was celebrated as the anti-authoritarian day in Bangladesh. However, that day is disregarded by people to celebrate Valentine's Day.[112][113][114]

China

See also: The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl

In Chinese, Valentine's Day is called lovers' festival (simplified Chinese: 情人节; traditional Chinese: 情人節; Mandarin: Qīng Rén Jié; Hokkien: Chêng Lîn Chiat; Cantonese: Chìhng Yàhn Jit; Shanghainese Xin Yin Jiq). The "Chinese Valentine's Day" is the Qixi Festival (meaning "The Night of Sevens" (Chinese: 七夕; pinyin: Qi Xi)), celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. According to the legend, the Cowherd star and the Weaver Maid star are normally separated by the Milky Way (silvery river) but are allowed to meet by crossing it on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Chinese calendar.[115]

In recent years, celebrating White Day has also become fashionable among some young people.[116]

India

Main article: Valentine's Day in India

In ancient India, there was a tradition of adoring Kamadeva, the lord of love — exemplified by the erotic carvings in the Khajuraho Group of Monuments and by the writing of the Kamasutra.[117] This tradition was lost around the Middle Ages, when Kamadeva was no longer celebrated, and public displays of sexual affection became frowned upon.[117] This repression of public affections began to loosen in the 1990s.[118]

Valentine's Day celebrations did not catch on in India until around 1992. It was spread due to the programs in commercial TV channels, such as MTV, dedicated radio programs, and love letter competitions, in addition to an economical liberalization that allowed the explosion of the valentine card industry.[117][119] The celebration has caused a sharp change on how people have been displaying their affection in public since the Middle Ages.[117]

On a 2018 online survey, it was found that 68% of the respondents do not wish to celebrate Valentine's Day.[120] It can be also observed that different religious groups, including Hindu,[121] Muslim[122] and Christian people of India do not support Valentine's Day.

In modern times, Hindu and Islamic[123] traditionalists have considered the holiday to be cultural contamination from the West, a result of globalization in India.[117][119] Shiv Sena and the Sangh Parivar have asked their followers to shun the holiday and the "public admission of love" because of them being "alien to Indian culture".[124] Although these protests are organized by political elites, the protesters themselves are middle-class Hindu men who fear that the globalization will destroy the traditions in their society: arranged marriages, Hindu joint families, full-time mothers, etc.[119][123] Despite these obstacles, Valentine's Day is becoming increasingly popular in India.[125]

Valentine's Day has been strongly criticized from a postcolonial perspective by intellectuals from the Indian left. The holiday is regarded as a front for "Western imperialism", "neocolonialism", and "the exploitation of working classes through commercialism by multinational corporations".[126] It is claimed that as a result of Valentine's Day, the working classes and rural poor become more disconnected socially, politically, and geographically from the hegemonic capitalist power structure. They also criticize mainstream media attacks on Indians opposed to Valentine's Day as a form of demonization that is designed and derived to further the Valentine's Day agenda.[127][128] Right wing Hindu nationalists are also hostile. In February 2012, Subash Chouhan of the Bajrang Dal warned couples that "They cannot kiss or hug in public places. Our activists will beat them up".[129] He said "We are not against love, but we criticize vulgar exhibition of love at public places".[130]

According to The Hindu in February 2023, the Animal Welfare Board of India appealed to Indians to celebrate 14th February as "Cow Hug Day" for “emotional richness” and to increase “individual and collective happiness.” The newspaper referenced the sacredness of cows as being equivalent to one's mother in Indian culture, and further rued ".. Vedic traditions are almost on the verge of extinction due to the progress of western culture over time. The dazzle of western civilization has made our physical culture and heritage almost forgotten".[131] According Rhea Mogul of CNN, a 2017 photo series Indian women sporting cow masks by activist Sujatro Ghosh portrays a society in which cows are more valued than women. Mogul says authorities had advanced the idea to rebrand Valentine’s Day as “Cow Hug Day”. Mogul says, But the move seems to have failed and later retracted after it prompted a rush of internet memes, cartoons and jokes by TV hosts about the importance of consent. Media outlets like NDTV mocked the government’s plan by underlining the importance of the consent of cows before hugging them. Mogul says critics say cow-worship has been politically manipulated by cow vigilante motivated by conservative BJP's majoritarian politics to harass minorities with allegations of disrespect of cows or cow slaughter.[132]

Iran

Main article: Valentine's Day in Iran
 
Part of a celebration of Valentine's Day in Tehran.

The history of Valentine's Day in Iran dates back to the Qajar era of the latter half of the 19th century—Naser al-Din Shah Qajar did not take his wife with him during his trip to Europe and he sent her a greeting card from distance on Valentine's Day. This greeting card is available in Iranian museums.[133]

Since the mid-2000s, Valentine's Day has become increasingly popular in Iran, especially among young people. However, it has also been the subject of heavy criticism from Iranian conservatives, who see it as part of the spread of "decadent" Western culture.[134] Since 2011, authorities have attempted to discourage celebrations and impose restrictions on the sale and production of Valentine's Day-related goods, although the holiday remains popular as of 2018.[135] Additionally, there have been efforts to revive the ancient Persian festival of Sepandārmazgān, which takes place around the same time, to replace Valentine's Day, although, as of 2016, this has also been largely unsuccessful.[136]

Israel

In Israel, the Jewish tradition of Tu B'Av has been revived and transformed into the Jewish equivalent of Valentine's Day. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Av (usually in late August). In ancient times girls would wear white dresses and dance in the vineyards, where the boys would be waiting for them (Mishna Taanith end of Chapter 4). Today, Tu B'Av is celebrated as a second holiday of love by secular people (along with Valentine's Day), and it shares many of the customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day in western societies. In modern Israeli culture Tu B'Av is a popular day to proclaim love, propose marriage, and give gifts like cards or flowers.[137]

Japan

In Japan, Morozoff Ltd. introduced the holiday for the first time in 1936, when it ran an advertisement aimed at foreigners. Later, in 1953, it began promoting the giving of heart-shaped chocolates; other Japanese confectionery companies followed suit thereafter. In 1958, the Isetan department store ran a "Valentine sale". Further campaigns during the 1960s popularized the custom.[138][139]

The custom that only women give chocolates to men may have originated from the translation error of a chocolate-company executive during the initial campaigns.[140] In particular, office ladies give chocolate to their co-workers. Unlike western countries, gifts such as greeting cards,[140] candies, flowers, or dinner dates[141] are uncommon, and most of the gifts-related activity is about giving the right amount of chocolate to each person.[140] Japanese chocolate companies make half their annual sales during this time of the year.[140]

Many women feel obliged to give chocolates to all male co-workers, except when the day falls on a Sunday, a holiday. This is known as giri-choko (義理チョコ), from 'giri' ("obligation") and 'choko', ("chocolate"), with unpopular co-workers receiving only "ultra-obligatory" (超義理チョコ 'chō-giri choko') cheap chocolate. This contrasts with honmei-choko (本命チョコ, lit. "true feeling chocolate"), chocolate given to a loved one. Friends, especially girls, may exchange chocolate referred to as tomo-choko (友チョコ, from 'tomo' meaning "friend").[142]

In the 1980s, the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a successful campaign to make March 14 a "reply day", where men are expected to return the favour to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day, calling it White Day for the color of the chocolates being offered. A previous failed attempt to popularize this celebration had been done by a marshmallow manufacturer who wanted men to return marshmallows to women.[138][139]

In Japan, the romantic "date night" associated with Valentine's Day is celebrated on Christmas Eve.[143]

Lebanon

 
Valentine's Day themed bouquet of cupcakes

Saint Valentine is the patron saint for a large part of the Lebanese population. Couples take the opportunity of Valentine's feast day to exchange sweet words and gifts as proof of love. Such gifts typically include boxes of chocolates, cupcakes, and red roses, which are considered the emblem of sacrifice and passion.[citation needed]

Lebanese people celebrate Valentine's Day in a different way in every city. In Beirut, men take women out to dine and may buy them a gift. Many women are asked to marry on that day. In Sidon, Valentine's Day is celebrated with the whole family – it is more about family love than a couple's love.[citation needed]

Malaysia

Islamic officials in West Malaysia warned Muslims against celebrating Valentine's Day, linking it with vice activities. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the celebration of romantic love was "not suitable" for Muslims. Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, head of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), which oversees the country's Islamic policies said that a fatwa (ruling) issued by the country's top clerics in 2005 noted that the day 'is associated with elements of Christianity,' and 'we just cannot get involved with other religions' worshipping rituals.' Jakim officials planned to carry out a nationwide campaign called "Awas Jerat Valentine's Day" ("Mind the Valentine's Day Trap"), aimed at preventing Muslims from celebrating the day on February 14, 2011. Activities include conducting raids in hotels to stop young couples from having unlawful sex and distributing leaflets to Muslim university students warning them against the day.[144][145]

On Valentine's Day 2011, West Malaysian religious authorities arrested more than 100 Muslim couples concerning the celebration ban. Some of them would be charged in the Shariah Court for defying the department's ban against the celebration of Valentine's Day.[146]

In East Malaysia, the celebration are much more tolerated among young Muslim couples although some Islamic officials and Muslim activists from the West side have told younger generations to refrain from such celebration by organising da'wah and tried to spread their ban into the East.[147][148] In both the states of Sabah and Sarawak, the celebration is usually common with flowers.[149][150][151]

Pakistan

Main article: Valentine's Day in Pakistan

The concept of Valentine's Day was introduced into Pakistan during the late 1990s with special TV and radio programs. The Jamaat-e-Islami political party has called for the banning of Valentine's Day celebration.[125] Despite this, the celebration is becoming popular among urban youth and the florists expect to sell a great number of flowers, especially red roses. The case is the same with card publishers.[152]

In 2016, the local governing body of Peshwar officially banned the celebration of Valentine's Day in the city. The ban was also implemented in other cities such as Kohat by the local governments.[153]

In 2017, the Islamabad High Court banned Valentine's Day celebrations in public places in Pakistan.[154] More than 80% of Dawn readers polled on its website agreed with this decision.[111]

In 2018, because of a petition by a citizen, Abdul Waheed, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority advised broadcasters and newspapers against airing any Valentine's Day celebrations.[155][156]

Philippines

In the Philippines, Valentine's Day is called Araw ng mga Puso in much the same manner as in the West. It is usually marked by a steep increase in the price of flowers, particularly red roses.[157] It is the most popular day for weddings,[158] with some localities offering mass ceremonies for no charge.[159]

Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, in 2002 and 2008, religious police banned the sale of all Valentine's Day items, telling shop workers to remove any red items, because the day is considered a Christian holiday.[160][161] This ban has created a black market for roses and wrapping paper.[161][162] In 2012, the religious police arrested more than 140 Muslims for celebrating the holiday, and confiscated all red roses from flower shops.[163] Muslims are not allowed to celebrate the holiday, and non-Muslims can celebrate only behind closed doors.[164]

"Saudi cleric Sheikh Muhammad Al-'Arifi said on Valentine's Day Eve that celebrating this holiday constitutes bid'a – a forbidden innovation and deviation from religious law and custom – and mimicry of the West."[165][166]

However, in 2017 and 2018, after a fatwa was widely circulated, the religious police did not prevent Muslims from celebrating the day.[167] In 2018, Sheikh Ahmed Qasim Al-Ghamdi, a Saudi cleric and former president of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said that Valentine's Day is not haram and is compatible with Islamic values.[168][169]

Singapore

According to findings, Singaporeans are among the biggest spenders on Valentine's Day, with 60% of Singaporeans indicating that they would spend between $100 and $500 during the season leading up to the holiday.[90]

South Korea

In South Korea, women give chocolate to men on February 14, and men give non-chocolate candy to women on March 14 (White Day). On April 14 (Black Day), those who did not receive anything on February or March 14 go to a Chinese-Korean restaurant to eat black noodles (짜장면 jajangmyeon) and lament their 'single life'.[141] Koreans also celebrate Pepero Day on November 11, when young couples give each other Pepero cookies. The date '11/11' is intended to resemble the long shape of the cookie. The 14th of every month marks a love-related day in Korea, although most of them are obscure. From January to December: Candle Day, Valentine's Day, White Day, Black Day, Rose Day, Kiss Day, Silver Day, Green Day, Music Day, Wine Day, Movie Day, and Hug Day.[170] Korean women give a much higher amount of chocolate than Japanese women.[141]

Taiwan

 
Taipei 101 in Valentine's Day 2006

In Taiwan, traditional Qixi Festival, Valentine's Day and White Day are all celebrated. However, the situation is the reverse of Japan's. Men give gifts to women on Valentine's Day, and women return them on White Day.[141]

Europe

Estonia and Finland

In Finland, Valentine's Day is called ystävänpäivä, which means "Friend's Day". As the name indicates, this day is more about remembering friends, not significant others. In Estonia, Valentine's Day was originally called valentinipäev and later also sõbrapäev ('Friend's Day') as a calque of the Finnish term.[171]

France

In France, a traditionally Catholic country, Valentine's Day is known simply as "Saint Valentin", and is celebrated in much the same way as other western countries.[172] The relics of Saint Valentin de Terni, the patron of the St Valentine's Day, are in the Catholic church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Saint-Jean-l’Evangéliste located in the southern France town of Roquemaure, Gard. The celebrations of "Fête des Amoureux" takes place every two years on the Sunday closest to February 14. The village gets dressed in its 19th-century costume and put on the program with over 800 people.

Greece

St. Valentine's Day, or Ημέρα του Αγίου Βαλεντίνου in Greek tradition was not associated with romantic love. In the Eastern Orthodox church there is another Saint who protects people who are in love, Hyacinth of Caesarea (feast day July 3), but this was not widely known until the late 1990s[173] In contemporary Greece, Valentine's Day is generally celebrated as in the common Western tradition.[174]

Ireland

 
Many Christians make a pilgrimage to Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin on Saint Valentine's Day to implore the intercession of Saint Valentine in their prayers, with the hope of finding true love[175]

On Saint Valentine's Day in Ireland, many individuals who seek true love make a Christian pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, which is said to house relics of Saint Valentine of Rome; they pray at the shrine in hope of finding romance.[175] There lies a book in which foreigners and locals have written their prayer requests for love.[176]

Poland

Saint Valentine's Day was introduced to Poland together with the cult of Saint Valentine via Bavaria and Tyrol.[177] However, it rose in popularity in the 1990s.[177] The only (and the biggest) public celebration in Poland is held annually from 2002 in Chełmno[177] under the name „Walentynki Chełmińskie” (Chełmno Valentine's). Because Chełmno's parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been holding the relic of St. Valentine since the Middle Ages, local cult of the saint has been combined with the Anglo-Saxon tradition.[177]

Portugal

In Portugal, the holiday is known as "Dia dos Namorados" (Lover's Day / Day of the Enamoured). As elsewhere, couples exchange gifts, but in some regions, women give a lenço de namorados ("lovers' handkerchief"), which is usually embroidered with love motifs.[178]

Romania

In recent years, Romania has also started celebrating Valentine's Day. This has drawn backlash from several groups, institutions,[179] and nationalist organizations like Noua Dreaptǎ, who condemn Valentine's Day for being superficial, commercialist, and imported Western kitsch. In order to counter the perceived denaturation of national culture, Dragobete, a spring festival celebrated in parts of Southern Romania, has been rekindled after having been ignored during the Communist years as the traditional Romanian holiday for lovers. The holiday is named after a character from Romanian folklore who was supposed to be the son of Baba Dochia.[180] Its date used to vary depending on the geographical area, however nowadays it is commonly observed on February 24.[181]

Scandinavia

In Denmark and Norway, February 14 is known as Valentinsdag, and is celebrated in much the same manner as in the United Kingdom.[182] In Sweden it is called Alla hjärtans dag ("All Hearts' Day") but is not widely celebrated. A 2016 survey revealed that less than 50% of men and women were planning to buy presents for their partners.[183] The holiday has only been observed since the 1960s.[182]

Spain

The holiday was first introduced in Spain through a 1948 advertisement campaign by the department store chain Galerías Preciados,[184] and had become widespread by the 1970s.[184]

Known as "San Valentín", the holiday is celebrated the same way as in the rest of the West.

United Kingdom

 
Valentine's Day love notes on display in 2010 for making a charitable donation to the British Heart Foundation

In the UK, just under half of the population spends money on their Valentines and around £1.3 billion is spent yearly on cards, flowers, chocolates, and other gifts, with an estimated 25 million cards being sent.[185]

In Wales, some people celebrate Dydd Santes Dwynwen (St. Dwynwen's Day) on January 25 instead of (or as well as) Valentine's Day. The day commemorates St Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of love.[186] The Welsh name for Saint Valentine is Sant Ffolant.

In a 2016 poll conducted by Channel 4 for Valentine's Day, Jane Austen’s line, “My heart is, and always will be, yours”, from her novel Sense and Sensibility as said by Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) to Elinor Dashwood (Emma Thompson) in the acclaimed 1995 film adaptation, was voted the most romantic line from literature, film, and TV by thousands of women.[187]

Restrictions on Valentine's day in some countries

The celebration of Valentine's Day has been banned in Indonesia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia due to beliefs the holiday conflicts with Islamic culture.[111]

Since 2009, certain practices pertaining to Valentine's Day (such as giving flowers, cards, or other gifts suggestive of Valentine's Day) are banned in Iran.[188] Iran's Law Enforcement Force prosecutes distributors of goods with symbols associated with Valentine's Day.[189] In 2021, the Prosecutor's Office of Qom, Iran, stated that it will prosecute those who disseminate and provide anti-cultural symbols like those of Valentine's Day.[190] Although Valentine's Day is not accepted or approved by any institution in Iran and has no official status, it's highly accepted among a large part of the population.[191] One of the reasons for Valentine's Day acceptance since the 2000s by the general population is the change in relations between the sexes, and because sexual relationship are no longer strictly limited to be within marriage.[192]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ For example, one source claims incorrectly that "Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the 5th century by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel the pagan rituals." Seipel, Arnie, The Dark Origins Of Valentine's Day April 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Nation Public Radio, February 13, 2011
  2. ^ Ansgar, 1976, pp. 60–61. The replacement of Lupercalia with Saint Valentine's celebration was suggested by researchers Kellog and Cox. Ansgar says "It is hardly credible, then, that Pope Gelasius could have introduced the feast of the Purification to counteract the Lupercalia, and in fact the historical records of his pontificate give no hint of such an action."
  3. ^ Ansgar, 1976, pp. 60–61. This feast is celebrated 40 days after the Nativity. In Jerusalem the Nativity was celebrated on January 6, and this feast in February 14. But, in the West and even in Eastern places such as Antioch and Alexandria, Nativity was celebrated on December 25, and this Purification was not celebrated. When this feast was introduced to Rome, it was directly placed in February 2. Around that time, Jerusalem adopted the Nativity date of December 25 and moved the Purification to February 2.

References

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  2. ^ "Valentine's Day | Definition, History, & Traditions". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  3. ^ Kithcart, David (September 25, 2013). "St. Valentine, the Real Story". Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  4. ^ Ansgar, 1986, Chaucer and the Cult of Saint valentine, pp. 46–58.
  5. ^ Cooper, J.C. (October 23, 2013). Dictionary of Christianity. Routledge. p. 278. ISBN 9781134265466.
  6. ^ a b Chryssides, George D.; Wilkins, Margaret Z. (2014). Christians in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-54557-6. The association between Valentine and lovers derives from a legend associated with Valentine of Rome. Emperor Claudius II wanted to recruit soldiers for the Roman army, and prohibited young men from marrying, in case homesickness for wives, homes and families should impair their military prowess. He also opposed the Christian faith, encouraging its persecution. Valentine, a physician priest, offered help to Christians whose lives were in peril and, although celibate himself, performed secret marriage rites for young men and women, defying the emperor's decree. He was discovered and imprisoned.
  7. ^ Ball, Ann (January 1, 1992). A Litany of Saints. OSV. ISBN 9780879734602.
  8. ^ Guiley, Rosemary (2001). The Encyclopedia of Saints. Infobase Publishing. p. 341. ISBN 9781438130262.
  9. ^ Schuster, Ildefonso (1927). The Sacramentary: (Liber Sacramentorum) : Historical & Liturgical Notes on the Roman Missal. Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. p. 429. VALENTINE, PRIEST AND MARTYR Station at the Cemetery of Valentine on the Via Flaminia. The festival of this martyr, who suffered during the persecution under the Emperor Claudius II, is to be found in the Gelasian Sacramentary. His sepulchral basilica on the Via Flaminia, built by Pope Julius I (341–52), and restored by Honorius I, was the first to greet the pilgrims as they approached the Eternal City, eagerly desirous of visiting the sepulchres of the ancient heroes of the Faith.
  10. ^ a b Polcar, P. (1894). "Gelasian Sacramentary 2.8–12". The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world. Oxford University Press. XVI Kal. Mart. in natali Valentini, Vitalis, et Feliculae. '14 February on the feast of Valentinus, Vitalis, and Felicula.' [*Valentinus, bishop of Terni (Interamna) and martyr of Rome, S00434; *Vitalis and Felicula, martyrs of Spoleto, *S01917] Three Prayers listed
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  15. ^ Kyrou, Alexandros K. (February 14, 2015). "The Historical and Orthodox Saint Valentine". Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. from the original on August 14, 2016. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  16. ^ Henry Ansgar Kelly, in Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine (Leiden: Brill) 1986, accounts for these and further local Saints Valentine (Ch. 6 "The Genoese Saint Valentine and the observances of May") in arguing that Chaucer had an established tradition in mind, and (pp. 79 ff.) linking the Valentine in question to Valentine, first bishop of Genoa, the only Saint Valentine honoured with a feast in springtime, the season indicated by Chaucer. Valentine of Genoa was treated by Jacobus of Verazze in his Chronicle of Genoa (Kelly p. 85).
  17. ^ Oxford Dictionary of Saints, s.v. "Valentine": "The Acts of both are unreliable, and the Bollandists assert that these two Valentines were in fact one and the same."
  18. ^ Matilda Webb, The Churches and Catacombs of Early Christian Rome, 2001, Sussex Academic Press.
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  23. ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Valentine". newadvent.org. from the original on March 3, 2016.
  24. ^ Calendarium Romanum ex Decreto Sacrosancti Œcumenici Concilii Vaticani II Instauratum Auctoritate Pauli PP. VI Promulgatum (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, MCMLXIX), p. 117.
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  26. ^ . Archived from the original on May 25, 2010.
  27. ^ . Archived from the original on October 17, 2015.
  28. ^ J.C. Cooper, Dictionary of Christianity, 2013, Routledge.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g Oruch, Jack B., "St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February", Speculum, 56 (1981): 534–65. Oruch's survey of the literature finds no association between Valentine and romance prior to Chaucer. He concludes that Chaucer is likely to be "the original mythmaker in this instance." Colfa.utsa.edu April 16, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ a b c d Ansgar, 1986, pp. 49–50
  31. ^ Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham (1894). A Dictionary of Miracles: Imitative, Realistic, and Dogmatic. J. B. Lippincott & Co. p. 384. St. Valentine, laying his hand upon her eyes, said in prayer, "O Thou who art the true Light, give light to this Thy servant." Instantly sight was restored to the blind child. Asterius and his wife, falling at the feet of Valentine, prayed that they might be admitted into the Christian fellowship; whereupon St. Valentine commanded them to break their idols, to fast for three days, to forgive their enemies, and to be baptized. Asterius and his wife did all the saint told them to do, and Valentine baptized them and all their household, to the number of forty-six in all. —Les Petits Bollandistes, vol. ii. pp. 510, 511.
  32. ^ Legenda Aurea, "Saint Valentine" September 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, catholic-forum.com.
  33. ^ a b Ansgar, 1986, p. 59. It originated in the 1797 edition of Kemmish's Annual, according to Frank Staff, The Valentine and Its Origins (London, 1969), p. 122. Ansgar was unable to corroborate this.
  34. ^ Ruth Webb Lee, A History of Valentines, 1952, Studio Publications in association with Crowell.
  35. ^ "St. Valentine beheaded – Feb 14, 278". History. February 14, 2012. from the original on March 16, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14, on or about the year 270. Legend also has it that while in jail, St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine."
  36. ^ John Foxe. Voices of the Martyrs. Bridge Logos Foundation. pg. 62.
  37. ^ Shrine of St Valentine, Whitefriar Street Church January 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  38. ^ a b David James Harkness, Legends and Lore: Southerns Indians Flowers Holidays, vol. XL, No. 2, April 1961, University of Tennessee Newsletter (bimonthly), p. 15.
  39. ^ a b c Max L. Christensen, Heroes and Saints: More Stories of People Who Made a Difference, 1997, Westminster John Knox Press. Chapter "The First Valentine", p. 25 ISBN 066425702X
  40. ^ George Monger (April 9, 2013). Marriage Customs of the World: An Encyclopedia of Dating Customs and Wedding Traditions, Expanded Second Edition [2 Volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 665–671. ISBN 978-1-59884-664-5. from the original on September 14, 2015.
  41. ^ Frank Staff, The Valentine & Its Origins, 1969, Frederick A. Praeger.
  42. ^ The Illustrated Library of the Natural Sciences, Volume 1, 1958, Simon and Schuster. p. 85 "The amethyst is the birthstone for February, and Saint Valentine is supposed to have worn an amethyst engraved with a figure of Cupid"
  43. ^ Rayner W. Hesse (January 1, 2007). Jewelrymaking Through History: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-313-33507-5. from the original on September 15, 2015. It appears as the birthstone from February probably due to its association with Saint Valentine; therefore, amethyst has often been worn to attract love.
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  49. ^ a b Forbes, Bruce David (October 27, 2015). America's Favorite Holidays: Candid Histories. University of California Press. p. 54. ISBN 9780520284722. There is no indication in suppressing the Lupercalia, Gelasius put anything else in its place. Much later, in the 1500s, a Cardinal Baronius speculated that Gelasius converted the Lupercalia into the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin (or Candlemas), changing one purification ceremony into another, and many noted authors have repeated this claim. Recent scholarship has refuted Baronius's assertion...there is no evidence that Gelasius advocated a celebration of Valentine's Day as a replacement for the Lupercalia. ... The letter by Gelasius to Andromachus criticizing the Lupercalia contains no reference to Valentine, or Valentine's Day, or any replacement observance.
  50. ^ Jack B. Oruch, "St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February" Speculum 56.3 (July 1981:534–565)
  51. ^ a b Ansgar, 1976, pp. 60–61.
  52. ^ a b Meg Sullivan (February 1, 2001). . UCLA Spotlight. Archived from the original on April 3, 2017.
  53. ^ The Complete Works of Chaucer, ed. F.N. Robinson, Oxford University Press, London, p. 366, lines 309-315.
  54. ^ The Riverside Chaucer, ed. Larry D. Benson, Oxford University Press, 1987, p. 389, lines 309-315.
  55. ^ Kelly, Henry Ansgar, Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine (Brill Academic Publishers, 1997), ISBN 90-04-07849-5. Chapter 6 The Genoese St. Valentine, p. 80–83.
  56. ^ . Independent Online. February 9, 2001. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2012. Kelly gives the saint's day of the Genoese Valentine as May 3 and also claims that Richard's engagement was announced on this day.
  57. ^ "Chaucer: The Parliament of Fowls". from the original on January 21, 2017., wsu.edu
  58. ^ Oruch 1981:539.
  59. ^ Ansgar, 1986, Chapter 5, Grandson, Pardo and Gower, pp. 64–76
  60. ^ a b Ansgar, 1986, Chapter 8, The Hibermantino of the Mating Season, pp. 131–138
  61. ^ Goodrich, Peter (1996) Law in the Courts of Love
  62. ^ wikisource:Translation:A Farewell to Love in wikisource
  63. ^ History Channel October 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, historychannel.com.
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Bibliography

  • Ansgar Kelly, Henry (1986), "The Valentines of February", Chaucer and the cult of Saint Valentine, Davis medieval texts and studies, vol. 5, Brill, ISBN 978-90-04-07849-9

Further reading

  • Anthony M. Sammarco (January 24, 2022). Valentine's Day Traditions in Boston. America Through Time. ISBN 978-1635001075.

External links

  •   Media related to Valentine's Day at Wikimedia Commons
  •   Quotations related to Valentine's Day at Wikiquote
  •   Works related to Portal:Valentine's Day at Wikisource

February 14, 2023
valentine, this, article, about, romantic, holiday, liturgical, celebration, other, uses, disambiguation, redirects, here, bing, crosby, album, album, also, called, saint, feast, saint, valentine, celebrated, annually, february, originated, christian, feast, h. This article is about the romantic holiday and liturgical celebration For other uses see Valentine s Day disambiguation St Valentine s Day redirects here For the Bing Crosby album see St Valentine s Day album Valentine s Day also called Saint Valentine s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine 1 is celebrated annually on February 14 2 It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and through later folk traditions has become a significant cultural religious and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world 3 Valentine s DayA Valentine s card c 1909Also calledSaint Valentine s Day or the Feast of Saint ValentineObserved byPeople in many countries Anglican Communion see calendar Lutheran Church see calendar Traditionalist Catholicism see calendar TypeChristian romantic cultural commercial observanceSignificanceFeast day of Saint Valentine the celebration of love and affectionObservancesSending greeting cards and gifts dating church services novenasDateFebruary 14 fixed by the Western Christian Church July 6 fixed by the Eastern Orthodox Church July 30 fixed by the Eastern Orthodox Church FrequencyAnnualSaint Valentine There are a number of martyrdom stories associated with various Valentines connected to February 14 4 including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century 5 6 According to an early tradition Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer 7 Numerous later additions to the legend have better related it to the theme of love an 18th century embellishment to the legend claims he wrote the jailer s daughter a letter signed Your Valentine as a farewell before his execution 8 another tradition posits that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry 6 The 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14 9 10 The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished apparently by association with the lovebirds of early spring In 18th century England it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers offering confectionery and sending greeting cards known as valentines Valentine s Day symbols that are used today include the heart shaped outline doves and the figure of the winged Cupid Since the 19th century handwritten valentines have given way to mass produced greeting cards 11 In Italy Saint Valentine s Keys are given to lovers as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver s heart as well as to children to ward off epilepsy called Saint Valentine s Malady 12 Saint Valentine s Day is not a public holiday in any country although it is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion 13 and the Lutheran Church 14 Many parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrate Saint Valentine s Day on July 6 in honor of Roman presbyter Saint Valentine and on July 30 in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine the Bishop of Interamna modern Terni 15 Contents 1 Saint Valentine 1 1 History 1 2 Legends 2 Folk traditions 3 Connection with romantic love 3 1 Possible ancient origins 3 2 Chaucer s Parliament of Fowls 3 3 Court of love 3 4 Valentine poetry 3 5 Modern times 4 Celebration and status worldwide 4 1 Americas 4 1 1 Latin America 4 1 2 Brazil 4 1 3 Colombia 4 1 4 United States 4 2 Asia 4 2 1 Afghanistan 4 2 2 Bangladesh 4 2 3 China 4 2 4 India 4 2 5 Iran 4 2 6 Israel 4 2 7 Japan 4 2 8 Lebanon 4 2 9 Malaysia 4 2 10 Pakistan 4 2 11 Philippines 4 2 12 Saudi Arabia 4 2 13 Singapore 4 2 14 South Korea 4 2 15 Taiwan 4 3 Europe 4 3 1 Estonia and Finland 4 3 2 France 4 3 3 Greece 4 3 4 Ireland 4 3 5 Poland 4 3 6 Portugal 4 3 7 Romania 4 3 8 Scandinavia 4 3 9 Spain 4 3 10 United Kingdom 5 Restrictions on Valentine s day in some countries 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 8 1 Bibliography 9 Further reading 10 External linksSaint ValentineMain article Saint Valentine History Shrine of St Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin Ireland Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine 16 The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome Valentinus presb m Romae and Valentine of Terni Valentinus ep Interamnensis m Romae 17 Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who was martyred in 269 and was added to the calendar of saints by Pope Gelasius I in 496 and was buried on the Via Flaminia The relics of St Valentine were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome which remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV 1288 1292 18 19 The flower crowned skull of Saint Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin Rome Other relics are found at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin Ireland 20 Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna now Terni in central Italy and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian in 273 He is buried on the Via Flaminia but in a different location from Valentine of Rome His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni Basilica di San Valentino Professor Jack B Oruch of the University of Kansas notes that abstracts of the acts of the two saints were in nearly every church and monastery of Europe 21 A relic claimed to be Saint Valentine of Terni s head was preserved in the abbey of New Minster Winchester and venerated 22 The Catholic Encyclopedia speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14 He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions but nothing more is known about him 23 February 14 is celebrated as St Valentine s Day in various Christian denominations it has for example the rank of commemoration in the calendar of saints in the Anglican Communion 13 The feast day of Saint Valentine is given in the calendar of saints of the Lutheran Church 14 In the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints the feast day of Saint Valentine on February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar and relegated to particular local or even national calendars for the following reason Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient it is left to particular calendars since apart from his name nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14 24 The feast day is still celebrated in Balzan Malta where relics of the saint are claimed to be found and also throughout the world by Traditionalist Catholics who follow the older pre Second Vatican Council calendar see General Roman Calendar of 1960 In the Eastern Orthodox Church St Valentine is recognized on July 6 in which Saint Valentine the Roman presbyter is honoured in addition the Eastern Orthodox Church observes the feast of Hieromartyr Valentine Bishop of Interamna on July 30 25 26 27 Legends St Valentine baptizing St Lucilla Jacopo Bassano J C Cooper in The Dictionary of Christianity writes that Saint Valentine was a priest of Rome who was imprisoned for succouring persecuted Christians 28 Contemporary records of Saint Valentine were most probably destroyed during this Diocletianic Persecution in the early 4th century 29 In the 5th or 6th century a work called Passio Marii et Marthae published a story of martyrdom for Saint Valentine of Rome perhaps by borrowing tortures that happened to other saints as was usual in the literature of that period 29 30 The same events are found in Bede s Martyrology which was compiled in the 8th century 29 30 It states that Saint Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead Because of this he was executed Before his execution he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing Julia the blind daughter of his jailer Asterius The jailer s daughter and his forty six member household family members and servants came to believe in Jesus and were baptized 31 29 A later Passio repeated the legend adding that Pope Julius I built a church over his sepulchre it is a confusion with a 4th century tribune called Valentino who donated land to build a church at a time when Julius was a Pope 30 The legend was picked up as fact by later martyrologies starting with Bede s martyrology in the 8th century 30 It was repeated in the 13th century in The Golden Legend 32 There is an additional embellishment to The Golden Legend which according to Henry Ansgar Kelly was added in the 18th century and widely repeated 33 On the evening before Valentine was to be executed he is supposed to have written the first valentine card himself addressed to the daughter of his jailer Asterius who was no longer blind signing as Your Valentine 33 The expression From your Valentine was later adopted by modern Valentine letters 34 This legend has been published by both American Greetings and The History Channel 35 Saint Valentine of Terni and his disciples John Foxe a Sixteenth Century English historian and the Order of Carmelites state that Saint Valentine was buried in the Church of Praxedes in Rome located near the cemetery of Saint Hippolytus This order says that according to legend Julia herself planted a pink blossomed almond tree near his grave Today the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship 36 37 Another embellishment suggests that Saint Valentine performed clandestine Christian weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry 38 The Roman Emperor Claudius II supposedly forbade this in order to grow his army believing that married men did not make for good soldiers 38 39 However George Monger writes that this marriage ban was never issued and that Claudius II told his soldiers to take two or three women for themselves after his victory over the Goths 40 According to legend in order to remind these men of their vows and God s love Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment giving them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St Valentine s Day 41 Saint Valentine supposedly wore a purple amethyst ring customarily worn on the hands of Christian bishops with an image of Cupid engraved in it a recognizable symbol associated with love that was legal under the Roman Empire 39 42 Roman soldiers would recognize the ring and ask him to perform marriage for them 39 Probably due to the association with Saint Valentine amethyst has become the birthstone of February which is thought to attract love 43 Folk traditionsWhile the European folk traditions connected with Saint Valentine and St Valentine s Day have become marginalized by modern customs connecting the day with romantic love there are still some connections with the advent of spring While the custom of sending cards flowers chocolates and other gifts originated in the UK Valentine s Day still remains connected with various regional customs in England In Norfolk a character called Jack Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children Although he was leaving treats many children were scared of this mystical person 44 45 In Slovenia Saint Valentine or Zdravko was one of the saints of spring the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and pilgrims 46 A proverb says that Saint Valentine brings the keys of roots Plants and flowers start to grow on this day It has been celebrated as the day when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences It is also said that birds propose to each other or marry on that day Another proverb says Valentin prvi spomladin Valentine the first spring saint as in some places especially White Carniola Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring 47 Valentine s Day has only recently been celebrated as the day of love The day of love was traditionally March 12 the Saint Gregory s day or February 22 Saint Vincent s Day The patron of love was Saint Anthony whose day has been celebrated on June 13 46 Connection with romantic lovePossible ancient origins The Feast Latin in natali lit on the birthday of Saint Valentine originated in Christendom and has been marked by the Western Church of Christendom in honour of one of the Christian martyrs named Valentine as recorded in the 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary 21 10 In Ancient Rome Lupercalia was observed February 13 15 on behalf of Pan amp Juno pagan gods of love marriage amp fertility It was a rite connected to purification and health and had only slight connection to fertility as a part of health and none to love The celebration of Saint Valentine is not known to have had any romantic connotations until Chaucer s poetry about Valentine s Day in the 14th century some seven hundred years after celebration of Lupercalia is believed to have ceased 29 Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome The more general Festival of Juno Februa meaning Juno the purifier or the chaste Juno was celebrated on February 13 14 Although the Pope Gelasius I 492 496 article in the Catholic Encyclopedia says that he abolished Lupercalia theologian and Methodist minister Bruce Forbes wrote that no evidence has been demonstrated to link St Valentine s Day and the rites of the ancient Roman purification festival of Lupercalia despite claims by many authors to the contrary notes 1 22 48 49 Some researchers have theorized that Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with the celebration of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and claim a connection to the 14th century s connotations of romantic love but there is no historical indication that he ever intended such a thing notes 2 49 50 Also the dates do not fit because at the time of Gelasius I the feast was only celebrated in Jerusalem and it was on February 14 only because Jerusalem placed the Nativity of Jesus Christmas on January 6 notes 3 Although it was called Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary it also dealt with the presentation of Jesus at the temple 51 Jerusalem s Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary on February 14 became the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple on February 2 as it was introduced to Rome and other places in the sixth century after Gelasius I s time 51 Alban Butler in his The Lives of the Fathers Martyrs and Other Principal Saints 1756 1759 claimed without proof that boys and girls in Lupercalia drew names from a jar to make couples and that modern Valentine s letters originated from this custom In reality this practice originated in the Middle Ages with no link to Lupercalia with boys drawing the names of girls at random to couple with them This custom was combated by priests for example by Frances de Sales around 1600 apparently by replacing it with a religious custom of girls drawing the names of apostles from the altar However this religious custom is recorded as soon as the 13th century in the life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary so it could have a different origin 22 Chaucer s Parliament of Fowls Geoffrey Chaucer by Thomas Hoccleve 1412 The first recorded association of Valentine s Day with romantic love is believed to be in the Parliament of Fowls 1382 by Geoffrey Chaucer a dream vision portraying a parliament for birds to choose their mates 29 Honouring the first anniversary of the engagement of fifteen year old King Richard II of England to fifteen year old Anne of Bohemia 52 Chaucer wrote in Middle English For this was on seynt Valentynes dayWhan every foul cometh there to chese his makeOf every kynde that men thynke mayAnd that so huge a noyse gan they makeThat erthe and eyr and tre and every lakeSo ful was that unethe was there spaceFor me to stonde so ful was al the place 53 54 In modern English For this was on Saint Valentine s DayWhen every bird comes there to choose his matchOf every kind that men may think ofAnd that so huge a noise they began to makeThat earth and air and tree and every lakeWas so full that not easily was there spaceFor me to stand so full was all the place Readers have uncritically assumed that Chaucer was referring to February 14 as Valentine s Day Henry Ansgar Kelly has observed that Chaucer might have had in mind the feast day of St Valentine of Genoa an early bishop of Genoa who died around AD 307 it was probably celebrated on 3 May 52 55 56 A treaty providing for Richard II and Anne s marriage the subject of the poem was signed on May 2 1381 57 Jack B Oruch notes that the date on which spring begins has changed since Chaucer s time because of the precession of the equinoxes and the introduction of the more accurate Gregorian calendar only in 1582 On the Julian calendar in use in Chaucer s time February 14 would have fallen on the date now called February 23 a time when some birds have started mating and nesting in England 29 Chaucer s Parliament of Fowls refers to a supposedly established tradition but there is no record of such a tradition before Chaucer The speculative derivation of sentimental customs from the distant past began with 18th century antiquaries notably Alban Butler the author of Butler s Lives of Saints and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars Most notably the idea that Valentine s Day customs perpetuated those of the Roman Lupercalia has been accepted uncritically and repeated in various forms up to the present 22 58 Three other authors who made poems about birds mating on St Valentine s Day around the same years Otton de Grandson from Savoy John Gower from England and a knight called Pardo from Valencia Chaucer most probably predated all of them but due to the difficulty of dating medieval works it is not possible to ascertain which of the four may have influenced the others 59 Court of love The earliest description of February 14 as an annual celebration of love appears in the Charter of the Court of Love The charter allegedly issued by Charles VI of France at Mantes la Jolie in 1400 describes lavish festivities to be attended by several members of the royal court including a feast amorous song and poetry competitions jousting and dancing 60 Amid these festivities the attending ladies would hear and rule on disputes from lovers 61 No other record of the court exists and none of those named in the charter were present at Mantes except Charles s queen Isabeau of Bavaria who may well have imagined it all while waiting out a plague 60 Valentine poetry The earliest surviving valentine is a 15th century rondeau written by Charles Duke of Orleans to his wife which commences Je suis desja d amour tanne Ma tres doulce Valentinee Charles d Orleans Rondeau VI lines 1 2 62 At the time the duke was being held in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt 1415 63 The earliest surviving valentines in English appear to be those in the Paston Letters written in 1477 by Margery Brewes to her future husband John Paston my right well beloved Valentine 64 Valentine s Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in William Shakespeare s Hamlet 1600 1601 To morrow is Saint Valentine s day All in the morning betime And I a maid at your window To be your Valentine Then up he rose and donn d his clothes And dupp d the chamber door Let in the maid that out a maidNever departed more William Shakespeare Hamlet Act IV Scene 5 Noted poet John Donne c 1595 John Donne used the legend of the marriage of the birds as the starting point for his epithalamion celebrating the marriage of Elizabeth daughter of James I of England and Frederick V Elector Palatine on Valentine s Day Hayle Bishop Valentine whose day this isAll the Ayre is thy Diocese And all the chirping Queristers And other birds ar thy parishioners Thou marryest every yeare The Lyrick Lark and the graue whispering Doue The Sparrow that neglects his life for loue The houshold bird with the redd stomacher Thou makst the Blackbird speede as soone As doth the Goldfinch or the Halcyon The Husband Cock lookes out and soone is spedd And meets his wife which brings her feather bed This day more cheerfully than ever shineThis day which might inflame thy selfe old Valentine John Donne Epithalamion Vpon Frederick Count Palatine and the Lady Elizabeth marryed on St Valentines day The verse Roses are red echoes conventions traceable as far back as Edmund Spenser s epic The Faerie Queene 1590 She bath d with roses red and violets blew And all the sweetest flowres sic that in the forrest grew 65 The modern cliche Valentine s Day poem can be found in Gammer Gurton s Garland 1784 a collection of English nursery rhymes published in London by Joseph Johnson The rose is red the violet s blue The honey s sweet and so are you Thou art my love and I am thine I drew thee to my Valentine The lot was cast and then I drew And Fortune said it shou d be you 66 67 Modern times An English Victorian era Valentine card located in the Museum of London In 1797 a British publisher issued The Young Man s Valentine Writer which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches called mechanical valentines Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons with paper lace introduced in the mid 19th century 68 In 1835 60 000 Valentine cards were sent by post in the United Kingdom despite postage being expensive 69 A reduction in postal rates following Sir Rowland Hill s postal reforms with the 1840 invention of the postage stamp Penny Black saw the number of Valentines posted increase with 400 000 sent just one year after its invention and ushered in the less personal but easier practice of mailing Valentines 70 That made it possible for the first time to exchange cards anonymously which is taken as the reason for the sudden appearance of racy verse in an era otherwise prudishly Victorian 71 Production increased Cupid s Manufactory as Charles Dickens termed it with over 3 000 women employed in manufacturing 70 The Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection at Manchester Metropolitan University gathers 450 Valentine s Day cards dating from early nineteenth century Britain printed by the major publishers of the day 72 The collection appears in Seddon s book Victorian Valentines 1996 73 Flowers such as red roses pictured are often sent on Valentine s Day In the United States the first mass produced Valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland 1828 1904 of Worcester Massachusetts 74 75 Her father operated a large book and stationery store but Howland took her inspiration from an English Valentine she had received from a business associate of her father 76 77 Intrigued with the idea of making similar Valentines Howland began her business by importing paper lace and floral decorations from England 77 78 A writer in Graham s American Monthly observed in 1849 Saint Valentine s Day is becoming nay it has become a national holyday 79 The English practice of sending Valentine s cards was established enough to feature as a plot device in Elizabeth Gaskell s Mr Harrison s Confessions 1851 I burst in with my explanations The valentine I know nothing about It is in your handwriting said he coldly 80 Since 2001 the Greeting Card Association has been giving an annual Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary 75 Since the 19th century handwritten notes have given way to mass produced greeting cards 11 In the UK just under half of the population spend money on their Valentines and around 1 9 billion was spent in 2015 on cards flowers chocolates and other gifts 81 The mid 19th century Valentine s Day trade was a harbinger of further commercialized holidays in the U S to follow 82 A gift box of chocolates which is a common gift for Valentine s Day In 1868 the British chocolate company Cadbury created Fancy Boxes a decorated box of chocolates in the shape of a heart for Valentine s Day 83 84 Boxes of filled chocolates quickly became associated with the holiday 83 In the second half of the 20th century the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manner of gifts such as giving jewelry The U S Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife usually to children When the valentine exchange cards made in school activities are included the figure goes up to 1 billion and teachers become the people receiving the most valentines 74 The average valentine s spending has increased every year in the U S from 108 a person in 2010 to 131 in 2013 85 The rise of Internet popularity at the turn of the millennium is creating new traditions Millions of people use every year digital means of creating and sending Valentine s Day greeting messages such as e cards love coupons or printable greeting cards Valentine s Day is considered by some to be a Hallmark holiday due to its commercialization 86 In the modern era liturgically the Lutheran Church and Anglican Church have a service for St Valentine s Day the Feast of St Valentine which includes the optional rite of the renewal of marriage vows 87 88 In 2016 the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales established a novena prayer to support single people seeking a spouse ahead of St Valentine s Day 89 Celebration and status worldwide A Canadian Women s Army Corps member and a man in the Canadian Air Force chalk hearts on a tree on Valentine s Day 1944 Valentine s Day customs sending greeting cards known as valentines offering confectionery and presenting flowers developed in early modern England and spread throughout the English speaking world in the 19th century In the later 20th and early 21st centuries these customs spread to other countries like those of Halloween or than aspects of Christmas such as Santa Claus Valentine s Day is celebrated in many East Asian countries with Singaporeans Chinese and South Koreans spending the most money on Valentine s gifts 90 Americas Latin America In most Latin American countries for example Costa Rica 91 Mexico 92 and the U S territory of Puerto Rico Saint Valentine s Day is known as Dia de los Enamorados Day of Lovers 93 or as Dia del Amor y la Amistad Day of Love and Friendship It is also common to see people perform acts of appreciation for their friends 94 In Guatemala it is known as Dia del Carino Affection Day 95 Some countries in particular the Dominican Republic and El Salvador 96 have a tradition called Amigo secreto Secret friend which is a game similar to the Christmas tradition of Secret Santa 94 Brazil Main article Dia dos Namorados In Brazil the Dia dos Namorados lit Lovers Day or Boyfriends Girlfriends Day is celebrated on June 12 probably because that is the day before Saint Anthony s day known there as the marriage saint citation needed when traditionally many single women perform popular rituals called simpatias in order to find a good husband or boyfriend Couples exchange gifts chocolates cards and flower bouquets The February 14 Valentine s Day is not celebrated at all because it usually falls too little before or too little after the Brazilian Carnival 97 that can fall anywhere from early February to early March and lasts almost a week Because of the absence of Valentine s Day and due to the celebrations of the Carnivals Brazil was recommended by U S News amp World Report as a tourist destination during February for Western singles who want to get away from the holiday 98 Colombia Colombia celebrates Dia del amor y la amistad on the third Saturday in September instead 99 Amigo Secreto is also popular there 100 United States Conversation hearts candies with messages on them are strongly associated with Valentine s Day in the United States African American Valentine s school dance Richmond Virginia 1956 On the United States mainland about 190 million Valentine s Day cards are sent each year not including the hundreds of millions of cards school children exchange 101 Valentine s Day is a major source of economic activity with total expenditures in 2017 topping 18 2 billion in 2017 or over 136 per person 102 This is an increase from 108 per person in 2010 85 In 2019 a survey by the National Retail Federation found that over the previous decade the percentage of people who celebrate Valentine s Day had declined steadily From their survey results they found three primary reasons over commercialization of the holiday not having a significant other and not being interested in celebrating it 103 Asia Afghanistan In pre Taliban years Koch e Gul Faroushi Flower Street in the down town Kabul used to be adorned with innovative flower arrangements to attract Valentine s Day celebrating youth 104 In the Afghan tradition love is often expressed through poetry Some new generation budding poets like Ramin Mazhar Mahtab Sahel are expressing themselves through poetry using Valentine s Day expressing concerns on any likelihood of erosion of freedoms In their political comment they defy fear by saying I kiss you amid the Taliban 105 106 Bangladesh Main article Valentine s Day in Bangladesh Valentine s Day was first celebrated in Bangladesh by Shafik Rehman a journalist and editor of Jaijaidin in 1993 He was acquainted with Western culture by studying in London 107 He highlighted Valentine s Day to the Bangladeshi people through Jaijaidin newspaper Rehman is called the father of Valentine s Day in Bangladesh 108 On this day people in various bonds including lovers friends husbands and wives mothers and children students and teachers express their love for each other with flowers chocolates cards and other gifts On this day various parks and recreation centers of the country are full of people of love 109 110 No public holiday is declared on this day in Bangladesh Some in Bangladesh feel that celebrating this day is not acceptable from a cultural and Islamic point of view 111 Before the celebration of Valentine s Day February 14 was celebrated as the anti authoritarian day in Bangladesh However that day is disregarded by people to celebrate Valentine s Day 112 113 114 China See also The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl In Chinese Valentine s Day is called lovers festival simplified Chinese 情人节 traditional Chinese 情人節 Mandarin Qing Ren Jie Hokkien Cheng Lin Chiat Cantonese Chihng Yahn Jit Shanghainese Xin Yin Jiq The Chinese Valentine s Day is the Qixi Festival meaning The Night of Sevens Chinese 七夕 pinyin Qi Xi celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar According to the legend the Cowherd star and the Weaver Maid star are normally separated by the Milky Way silvery river but are allowed to meet by crossing it on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Chinese calendar 115 In recent years celebrating White Day has also become fashionable among some young people 116 India Main article Valentine s Day in India In ancient India there was a tradition of adoring Kamadeva the lord of love exemplified by the erotic carvings in the Khajuraho Group of Monuments and by the writing of the Kamasutra 117 This tradition was lost around the Middle Ages when Kamadeva was no longer celebrated and public displays of sexual affection became frowned upon 117 This repression of public affections began to loosen in the 1990s 118 Valentine s Day celebrations did not catch on in India until around 1992 It was spread due to the programs in commercial TV channels such as MTV dedicated radio programs and love letter competitions in addition to an economical liberalization that allowed the explosion of the valentine card industry 117 119 The celebration has caused a sharp change on how people have been displaying their affection in public since the Middle Ages 117 On a 2018 online survey it was found that 68 of the respondents do not wish to celebrate Valentine s Day 120 It can be also observed that different religious groups including Hindu 121 Muslim 122 and Christian people of India do not support Valentine s Day In modern times Hindu and Islamic 123 traditionalists have considered the holiday to be cultural contamination from the West a result of globalization in India 117 119 Shiv Sena and the Sangh Parivar have asked their followers to shun the holiday and the public admission of love because of them being alien to Indian culture 124 Although these protests are organized by political elites the protesters themselves are middle class Hindu men who fear that the globalization will destroy the traditions in their society arranged marriages Hindu joint families full time mothers etc 119 123 Despite these obstacles Valentine s Day is becoming increasingly popular in India 125 Valentine s Day has been strongly criticized from a postcolonial perspective by intellectuals from the Indian left The holiday is regarded as a front for Western imperialism neocolonialism and the exploitation of working classes through commercialism by multinational corporations 126 It is claimed that as a result of Valentine s Day the working classes and rural poor become more disconnected socially politically and geographically from the hegemonic capitalist power structure They also criticize mainstream media attacks on Indians opposed to Valentine s Day as a form of demonization that is designed and derived to further the Valentine s Day agenda 127 128 Right wing Hindu nationalists are also hostile In February 2012 Subash Chouhan of the Bajrang Dal warned couples that They cannot kiss or hug in public places Our activists will beat them up 129 He said We are not against love but we criticize vulgar exhibition of love at public places 130 According to The Hindu in February 2023 the Animal Welfare Board of India appealed to Indians to celebrate 14th February as Cow Hug Day for emotional richness and to increase individual and collective happiness The newspaper referenced the sacredness of cows as being equivalent to one s mother in Indian culture and further rued Vedic traditions are almost on the verge of extinction due to the progress of western culture over time The dazzle of western civilization has made our physical culture and heritage almost forgotten 131 According Rhea Mogul of CNN a 2017 photo series Indian women sporting cow masks by activist Sujatro Ghosh portrays a society in which cows are more valued than women Mogul says authorities had advanced the idea to rebrand Valentine s Day as Cow Hug Day Mogul says But the move seems to have failed and later retracted after it prompted a rush of internet memes cartoons and jokes by TV hosts about the importance of consent Media outlets like NDTV mocked the government s plan by underlining the importance of the consent of cows before hugging them Mogul says critics say cow worship has been politically manipulated by cow vigilante motivated by conservative BJP s majoritarian politics to harass minorities with allegations of disrespect of cows or cow slaughter 132 Iran Main article Valentine s Day in Iran Part of a celebration of Valentine s Day in Tehran The history of Valentine s Day in Iran dates back to the Qajar era of the latter half of the 19th century Naser al Din Shah Qajar did not take his wife with him during his trip to Europe and he sent her a greeting card from distance on Valentine s Day This greeting card is available in Iranian museums 133 Since the mid 2000s Valentine s Day has become increasingly popular in Iran especially among young people However it has also been the subject of heavy criticism from Iranian conservatives who see it as part of the spread of decadent Western culture 134 Since 2011 authorities have attempted to discourage celebrations and impose restrictions on the sale and production of Valentine s Day related goods although the holiday remains popular as of 2018 135 Additionally there have been efforts to revive the ancient Persian festival of Sepandarmazgan which takes place around the same time to replace Valentine s Day although as of 2016 this has also been largely unsuccessful 136 Israel In Israel the Jewish tradition of Tu B Av has been revived and transformed into the Jewish equivalent of Valentine s Day It is celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Av usually in late August In ancient times girls would wear white dresses and dance in the vineyards where the boys would be waiting for them Mishna Taanith end of Chapter 4 Today Tu B Av is celebrated as a second holiday of love by secular people along with Valentine s Day and it shares many of the customs associated with Saint Valentine s Day in western societies In modern Israeli culture Tu B Av is a popular day to proclaim love propose marriage and give gifts like cards or flowers 137 Japan In Japan Morozoff Ltd introduced the holiday for the first time in 1936 when it ran an advertisement aimed at foreigners Later in 1953 it began promoting the giving of heart shaped chocolates other Japanese confectionery companies followed suit thereafter In 1958 the Isetan department store ran a Valentine sale Further campaigns during the 1960s popularized the custom 138 139 The custom that only women give chocolates to men may have originated from the translation error of a chocolate company executive during the initial campaigns 140 In particular office ladies give chocolate to their co workers Unlike western countries gifts such as greeting cards 140 candies flowers or dinner dates 141 are uncommon and most of the gifts related activity is about giving the right amount of chocolate to each person 140 Japanese chocolate companies make half their annual sales during this time of the year 140 Many women feel obliged to give chocolates to all male co workers except when the day falls on a Sunday a holiday This is known as giri choko 義理チョコ from giri obligation and choko chocolate with unpopular co workers receiving only ultra obligatory 超義理チョコ chō giri choko cheap chocolate This contrasts with honmei choko 本命チョコ lit true feeling chocolate chocolate given to a loved one Friends especially girls may exchange chocolate referred to as tomo choko 友チョコ from tomo meaning friend 142 In the 1980s the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a successful campaign to make March 14 a reply day where men are expected to return the favour to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine s Day calling it White Day for the color of the chocolates being offered A previous failed attempt to popularize this celebration had been done by a marshmallow manufacturer who wanted men to return marshmallows to women 138 139 In Japan the romantic date night associated with Valentine s Day is celebrated on Christmas Eve 143 Lebanon Valentine s Day themed bouquet of cupcakes Saint Valentine is the patron saint for a large part of the Lebanese population Couples take the opportunity of Valentine s feast day to exchange sweet words and gifts as proof of love Such gifts typically include boxes of chocolates cupcakes and red roses which are considered the emblem of sacrifice and passion citation needed Lebanese people celebrate Valentine s Day in a different way in every city In Beirut men take women out to dine and may buy them a gift Many women are asked to marry on that day In Sidon Valentine s Day is celebrated with the whole family it is more about family love than a couple s love citation needed Malaysia Islamic officials in West Malaysia warned Muslims against celebrating Valentine s Day linking it with vice activities Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the celebration of romantic love was not suitable for Muslims Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz head of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department Jakim which oversees the country s Islamic policies said that a fatwa ruling issued by the country s top clerics in 2005 noted that the day is associated with elements of Christianity and we just cannot get involved with other religions worshipping rituals Jakim officials planned to carry out a nationwide campaign called Awas Jerat Valentine s Day Mind the Valentine s Day Trap aimed at preventing Muslims from celebrating the day on February 14 2011 Activities include conducting raids in hotels to stop young couples from having unlawful sex and distributing leaflets to Muslim university students warning them against the day 144 145 On Valentine s Day 2011 West Malaysian religious authorities arrested more than 100 Muslim couples concerning the celebration ban Some of them would be charged in the Shariah Court for defying the department s ban against the celebration of Valentine s Day 146 In East Malaysia the celebration are much more tolerated among young Muslim couples although some Islamic officials and Muslim activists from the West side have told younger generations to refrain from such celebration by organising da wah and tried to spread their ban into the East 147 148 In both the states of Sabah and Sarawak the celebration is usually common with flowers 149 150 151 Pakistan Main article Valentine s Day in Pakistan The concept of Valentine s Day was introduced into Pakistan during the late 1990s with special TV and radio programs The Jamaat e Islami political party has called for the banning of Valentine s Day celebration 125 Despite this the celebration is becoming popular among urban youth and the florists expect to sell a great number of flowers especially red roses The case is the same with card publishers 152 In 2016 the local governing body of Peshwar officially banned the celebration of Valentine s Day in the city The ban was also implemented in other cities such as Kohat by the local governments 153 In 2017 the Islamabad High Court banned Valentine s Day celebrations in public places in Pakistan 154 More than 80 of Dawn readers polled on its website agreed with this decision 111 In 2018 because of a petition by a citizen Abdul Waheed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority advised broadcasters and newspapers against airing any Valentine s Day celebrations 155 156 Philippines In the Philippines Valentine s Day is called Araw ng mga Puso in much the same manner as in the West It is usually marked by a steep increase in the price of flowers particularly red roses 157 It is the most popular day for weddings 158 with some localities offering mass ceremonies for no charge 159 Saudi Arabia In Saudi Arabia in 2002 and 2008 religious police banned the sale of all Valentine s Day items telling shop workers to remove any red items because the day is considered a Christian holiday 160 161 This ban has created a black market for roses and wrapping paper 161 162 In 2012 the religious police arrested more than 140 Muslims for celebrating the holiday and confiscated all red roses from flower shops 163 Muslims are not allowed to celebrate the holiday and non Muslims can celebrate only behind closed doors 164 Saudi cleric Sheikh Muhammad Al Arifi said on Valentine s Day Eve that celebrating this holiday constitutes bid a a forbidden innovation and deviation from religious law and custom and mimicry of the West 165 166 However in 2017 and 2018 after a fatwa was widely circulated the religious police did not prevent Muslims from celebrating the day 167 In 2018 Sheikh Ahmed Qasim Al Ghamdi a Saudi cleric and former president of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said that Valentine s Day is not haram and is compatible with Islamic values 168 169 Singapore According to findings Singaporeans are among the biggest spenders on Valentine s Day with 60 of Singaporeans indicating that they would spend between 100 and 500 during the season leading up to the holiday 90 South Korea In South Korea women give chocolate to men on February 14 and men give non chocolate candy to women on March 14 White Day On April 14 Black Day those who did not receive anything on February or March 14 go to a Chinese Korean restaurant to eat black noodles 짜장면 jajangmyeon and lament their single life 141 Koreans also celebrate Pepero Day on November 11 when young couples give each other Pepero cookies The date 11 11 is intended to resemble the long shape of the cookie The 14th of every month marks a love related day in Korea although most of them are obscure From January to December Candle Day Valentine s Day White Day Black Day Rose Day Kiss Day Silver Day Green Day Music Day Wine Day Movie Day and Hug Day 170 Korean women give a much higher amount of chocolate than Japanese women 141 Taiwan Taipei 101 in Valentine s Day 2006 In Taiwan traditional Qixi Festival Valentine s Day and White Day are all celebrated However the situation is the reverse of Japan s Men give gifts to women on Valentine s Day and women return them on White Day 141 Europe Estonia and Finland In Finland Valentine s Day is called ystavanpaiva which means Friend s Day As the name indicates this day is more about remembering friends not significant others In Estonia Valentine s Day was originally called valentinipaev and later also sobrapaev Friend s Day as a calque of the Finnish term 171 France In France a traditionally Catholic country Valentine s Day is known simply as Saint Valentin and is celebrated in much the same way as other western countries 172 The relics of Saint Valentin de Terni the patron of the St Valentine s Day are in the Catholic church of Saint Jean Baptiste and Saint Jean l Evangeliste located in the southern France town of Roquemaure Gard The celebrations of Fete des Amoureux takes place every two years on the Sunday closest to February 14 The village gets dressed in its 19th century costume and put on the program with over 800 people Greece St Valentine s Day or Hmera toy Agioy Balentinoy in Greek tradition was not associated with romantic love In the Eastern Orthodox church there is another Saint who protects people who are in love Hyacinth of Caesarea feast day July 3 but this was not widely known until the late 1990s 173 In contemporary Greece Valentine s Day is generally celebrated as in the common Western tradition 174 Ireland Many Christians make a pilgrimage to Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin on Saint Valentine s Day to implore the intercession of Saint Valentine in their prayers with the hope of finding true love 175 On Saint Valentine s Day in Ireland many individuals who seek true love make a Christian pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin which is said to house relics of Saint Valentine of Rome they pray at the shrine in hope of finding romance 175 There lies a book in which foreigners and locals have written their prayer requests for love 176 Poland Saint Valentine s Day was introduced to Poland together with the cult of Saint Valentine via Bavaria and Tyrol 177 However it rose in popularity in the 1990s 177 The only and the biggest public celebration in Poland is held annually from 2002 in Chelmno 177 under the name Walentynki Chelminskie Chelmno Valentine s Because Chelmno s parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been holding the relic of St Valentine since the Middle Ages local cult of the saint has been combined with the Anglo Saxon tradition 177 Portugal In Portugal the holiday is known as Dia dos Namorados Lover s Day Day of the Enamoured As elsewhere couples exchange gifts but in some regions women give a lenco de namorados lovers handkerchief which is usually embroidered with love motifs 178 Romania In recent years Romania has also started celebrating Valentine s Day This has drawn backlash from several groups institutions 179 and nationalist organizations like Noua Dreaptǎ who condemn Valentine s Day for being superficial commercialist and imported Western kitsch In order to counter the perceived denaturation of national culture Dragobete a spring festival celebrated in parts of Southern Romania has been rekindled after having been ignored during the Communist years as the traditional Romanian holiday for lovers The holiday is named after a character from Romanian folklore who was supposed to be the son of Baba Dochia 180 Its date used to vary depending on the geographical area however nowadays it is commonly observed on February 24 181 Scandinavia In Denmark and Norway February 14 is known as Valentinsdag and is celebrated in much the same manner as in the United Kingdom 182 In Sweden it is called Alla hjartans dag All Hearts Day but is not widely celebrated A 2016 survey revealed that less than 50 of men and women were planning to buy presents for their partners 183 The holiday has only been observed since the 1960s 182 Spain The holiday was first introduced in Spain through a 1948 advertisement campaign by the department store chain Galerias Preciados 184 and had become widespread by the 1970s 184 Known as San Valentin the holiday is celebrated the same way as in the rest of the West United Kingdom Valentine s Day love notes on display in 2010 for making a charitable donation to the British Heart Foundation In the UK just under half of the population spends money on their Valentines and around 1 3 billion is spent yearly on cards flowers chocolates and other gifts with an estimated 25 million cards being sent 185 In Wales some people celebrate Dydd Santes Dwynwen St Dwynwen s Day on January 25 instead of or as well as Valentine s Day The day commemorates St Dwynwen the Welsh patron saint of love 186 The Welsh name for Saint Valentine is Sant Ffolant In a 2016 poll conducted by Channel 4 for Valentine s Day Jane Austen s line My heart is and always will be yours from her novel Sense and Sensibility as said by Edward Ferrars Hugh Grant to Elinor Dashwood Emma Thompson in the acclaimed 1995 film adaptation was voted the most romantic line from literature film and TV by thousands of women 187 Restrictions on Valentine s day in some countriesThe celebration of Valentine s Day has been banned in Indonesia Pakistan and Saudi Arabia due to beliefs the holiday conflicts with Islamic culture 111 Since 2009 certain practices pertaining to Valentine s Day such as giving flowers cards or other gifts suggestive of Valentine s Day are banned in Iran 188 Iran s Law Enforcement Force prosecutes distributors of goods with symbols associated with Valentine s Day 189 In 2021 the Prosecutor s Office of Qom Iran stated that it will prosecute those who disseminate and provide anti cultural symbols like those of Valentine s Day 190 Although Valentine s Day is not accepted or approved by any institution in Iran and has no official status it s highly accepted among a large part of the population 191 One of the reasons for Valentine s Day acceptance since the 2000s by the general population is the change in relations between the sexes and because sexual relationship are no longer strictly limited to be within marriage 192 See also Christianity portal Holidays portalWorld Kiss Day Dia dos Namorados Sailor s valentine Saint Valentine s Day Massacre Singles Awareness Day Steak and Blowjob Day Valentine s Day 2010 film V Day the global movement to end violence against women and girls Women s Memorial March held on Valentine s Day in Vancouver British Columbia Cake and Cunnilingus DayNotes For example one source claims incorrectly that Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the 5th century by combining St Valentine s Day with Lupercalia to expel the pagan rituals Seipel Arnie The Dark Origins Of Valentine s Day Archived April 27 2016 at the Wayback Machine Nation Public Radio February 13 2011 Ansgar 1976 pp 60 61 The replacement of Lupercalia with Saint Valentine s celebration was suggested by researchers Kellog and Cox Ansgar says It is hardly credible then that Pope Gelasius could have introduced the feast of the Purification to counteract the Lupercalia and in fact the historical records of his pontificate give no hint of such an action Ansgar 1976 pp 60 61 This feast is celebrated 40 days after the Nativity In Jerusalem the Nativity was celebrated on January 6 and this feast in February 14 But in the West and even in Eastern places such as Antioch and Alexandria Nativity was celebrated on December 25 and this Purification was not celebrated When this feast was introduced to Rome it was directly placed in February 2 Around that time Jerusalem adopted the Nativity date of December 25 and moved the Purification to February 2 References Chambers 21st Century Dictionary Revised ed Allied Publishers 2005 ISBN 9780550142108 Valentine s Day Definition History amp Traditions Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved February 14 2021 Kithcart David September 25 2013 St Valentine the Real Story Christian Broadcasting Network Retrieved February 14 2021 Ansgar 1986 Chaucer and the Cult of Saint valentine pp 46 58 Cooper J C October 23 2013 Dictionary of Christianity Routledge p 278 ISBN 9781134265466 a b Chryssides George D Wilkins Margaret Z 2014 Christians in the Twenty First Century Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 54557 6 The association between Valentine and lovers derives from a legend associated with Valentine of Rome Emperor Claudius II wanted to recruit soldiers for the Roman army and prohibited young men from marrying in case homesickness for wives homes and families should impair their military prowess He also opposed the Christian faith encouraging its persecution Valentine a physician priest offered help to Christians whose lives were in peril and although celibate himself performed secret marriage rites for young men and women defying the emperor s decree He was discovered and imprisoned Ball Ann January 1 1992 A Litany of Saints OSV ISBN 9780879734602 Guiley Rosemary 2001 The Encyclopedia of Saints Infobase Publishing p 341 ISBN 9781438130262 Schuster Ildefonso 1927 The Sacramentary Liber Sacramentorum Historical amp Liturgical Notes on the Roman Missal Burns Oates amp Washbourne Ltd p 429 VALENTINE PRIEST AND MARTYR Station at the Cemetery of Valentine on the Via Flaminia The festival of this martyr who suffered during the persecution under the Emperor Claudius II is to be found in the Gelasian Sacramentary His sepulchral basilica on the Via Flaminia built by Pope Julius I 341 52 and restored by Honorius I was the first to greet the pilgrims as they approached the Eternal City eagerly desirous of visiting the sepulchres of the ancient heroes of the Faith a b Polcar P 1894 Gelasian Sacramentary 2 8 12 The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity from its origins to circa AD 700 across the entire Christian world Oxford University Press XVI Kal Mart in natali Valentini Vitalis et Feliculae 14 February on the feast of Valentinus Vitalis and Felicula Valentinus bishop of Terni Interamna and martyr of Rome S00434 Vitalis and Felicula martyrs of Spoleto S01917 Three Prayers listed a b Leigh Eric Schmidt The Fashioning of a Modern Holiday St Valentine s Day 1840 1870 Winterthur Portfolio 28 4 Winter 1993 pp 209 245 St Valentine Key Italy Pitt Rivers Museum University of Oxford 2012 Archived from the original on July 19 2014 Retrieved June 20 2014 a b Holy Days Church of England Anglican Communion 2012 Archived from the original on June 29 2012 Retrieved October 27 2012 February 14 Valentine Martyr at Rome c 269 a b Pfatteicher Philip H August 1 2008 New Book of Festivals and Commemorations A Proposed Common Calendar of Saints Fortress Press p 86 ISBN 9780800621285 Archived from the original on January 1 2014 Retrieved October 27 2012 Kyrou Alexandros K February 14 2015 The Historical and Orthodox Saint Valentine Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Archived from the original on August 14 2016 Retrieved February 12 2016 Henry Ansgar Kelly in Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine Leiden Brill 1986 accounts for these and further local Saints Valentine Ch 6 The Genoese Saint Valentine and the observances of May in arguing that Chaucer had an established tradition in mind and pp 79 ff linking the Valentine in question to Valentine first bishop of Genoa the only Saint Valentine honoured with a feast in springtime the season indicated by Chaucer Valentine of Genoa was treated by Jacobus of Verazze in his Chronicle of Genoa Kelly p 85 Oxford Dictionary of Saints s v Valentine The Acts of both are unreliable and the Bollandists assert that these two Valentines were in fact one and the same Matilda Webb The Churches and Catacombs of Early Christian Rome 2001 Sussex Academic Press Saint Valentine s Day Legend of the Saint novareinna com Archived from the original on February 5 2016 Meera Lester 2011 Sacred Travels Adams Media ISBN 978 1440525469 a b Alison Chapman Patrons and Patron Saints in Early Modern English Literature Routledge pg 122 a b c d Ansgar 1986 pp 58 63 Archived October 1 2016 at the Wayback Machine Catholic Encyclopedia St Valentine newadvent org Archived from the original on March 3 2016 Calendarium Romanum ex Decreto Sacrosancti Œcumenici Concilii Vaticani II Instauratum Auctoritate Pauli PP VI Promulgatum Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis MCMLXIX p 117 St Valentine pravmir com Archived from the original on January 16 2013 Coptic Orthodox Church From Where Valentine s Day Comes From Archived from the original on May 25 2010 Happy Valentine s Day History And Myths Behind It Archived from the original on October 17 2015 J C Cooper Dictionary of Christianity 2013 Routledge a b c d e f g Oruch Jack B St Valentine Chaucer and Spring in February Speculum 56 1981 534 65 Oruch s survey of the literature finds no association between Valentine and romance prior to Chaucer He concludes that Chaucer is likely to be the original mythmaker in this instance Colfa utsa edu Archived April 16 2016 at the Wayback Machine a b c d Ansgar 1986 pp 49 50 Brewer Ebenezer Cobham 1894 A Dictionary of Miracles Imitative Realistic and Dogmatic J B Lippincott amp Co p 384 St Valentine laying his hand upon her eyes said in prayer O Thou who art the true Light give light to this Thy servant Instantly sight was restored to the blind child Asterius and his wife falling at the feet of Valentine prayed that they might be admitted into the Christian fellowship whereupon St Valentine commanded them to break their idols to fast for three days to forgive their enemies and to be baptized Asterius and his wife did all the saint told them to do and Valentine baptized them and all their household to the number of forty six in all Les Petits Bollandistes vol ii pp 510 511 Legenda Aurea Saint Valentine Archived September 4 2013 at the Wayback Machine catholic forum com a b Ansgar 1986 p 59 It originated in the 1797 edition of Kemmish s Annual according to Frank Staff The Valentine and Its Origins London 1969 p 122 Ansgar was unable to corroborate this Ruth Webb Lee A History of Valentines 1952 Studio Publications in association with Crowell St Valentine beheaded Feb 14 278 History February 14 2012 Archived from the original on March 16 2015 Retrieved April 9 2015 When Valentine s actions were discovered Claudius ordered that he be put to death Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off The sentence was carried out on February 14 on or about the year 270 Legend also has it that while in jail St Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer s daughter who had become his friend and signed it From Your Valentine John Foxe Voices of the Martyrs Bridge Logos Foundation pg 62 Shrine of St Valentine Whitefriar Street Church Archived January 26 2013 at the Wayback Machine a b David James Harkness Legends and Lore Southerns Indians Flowers Holidays vol XL No 2 April 1961 University of Tennessee Newsletter bimonthly p 15 a b c Max L Christensen Heroes and Saints More Stories of People Who Made a Difference 1997 Westminster John Knox Press Chapter The First Valentine p 25 ISBN 066425702X George Monger April 9 2013 Marriage Customs of the World An Encyclopedia of Dating Customs and Wedding Traditions Expanded Second Edition 2 Volumes ABC CLIO pp 665 671 ISBN 978 1 59884 664 5 Archived from the original on September 14 2015 Frank Staff The Valentine amp Its Origins 1969 Frederick A Praeger The Illustrated Library of the Natural Sciences Volume 1 1958 Simon and Schuster p 85 The amethyst is the birthstone for February and Saint Valentine is supposed to have worn an amethyst engraved with a figure of Cupid Rayner W Hesse January 1 2007 Jewelrymaking Through History An Encyclopedia Greenwood Publishing Group p 21 ISBN 978 0 313 33507 5 Archived from the original on September 15 2015 It appears as the birthstone from February probably due to its association with Saint Valentine therefore amethyst has often been worn to attract love British Folk Customs Jack Valentine Norfolk information britain co uk Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Valentines Day Past and Present in the Norwich area and Norfolk Archived from the original on June 28 2009 Retrieved February 3 2014 a b Kliner Pavla February 15 2008 Sv Valentin prvi spomladin St Valentin the First Spring Saint Gorenjski glas in Slovenian Archived from the original on January 18 2013 Vreme kot nalasc za izlete Weather As on Purpose for Trips Dnevnik si in Slovenian February 9 2011 Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Michael Matthew Kaylor 2006 Secreted Desires The Major Uranians Hopkins Pater and Wilde electronic ed Masaryk University Press p footnote 2 in page 235 ISBN 80 210 4126 9 a b Forbes Bruce David October 27 2015 America s Favorite Holidays Candid Histories University of California Press p 54 ISBN 9780520284722 There is no indication in suppressing the Lupercalia Gelasius put anything else in its place Much later in the 1500s a Cardinal Baronius speculated that Gelasius converted the Lupercalia into the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin or Candlemas changing one purification ceremony into another and many noted authors have repeated this claim Recent scholarship has refuted Baronius s assertion there is no evidence that Gelasius advocated a celebration of Valentine s Day as a replacement for the Lupercalia The letter by Gelasius to Andromachus criticizing the Lupercalia contains no reference to Valentine or Valentine s Day or any replacement observance Jack B Oruch St Valentine Chaucer and Spring in February Speculum 56 3 July 1981 534 565 a b Ansgar 1976 pp 60 61 a b Meg Sullivan February 1 2001 Henry Ansgar Kelly Valentine s Day UCLA Spotlight Archived from the original on April 3 2017 The Complete Works of Chaucer ed F N Robinson Oxford University Press London p 366 lines 309 315 The Riverside Chaucer ed Larry D Benson Oxford University Press 1987 p 389 lines 309 315 Kelly Henry Ansgar Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine Brill Academic Publishers 1997 ISBN 90 04 07849 5 Chapter 6 The Genoese St Valentine p 80 83 Take heart Valentine s every other week Independent Online February 9 2001 Archived from the original on February 5 2009 Retrieved February 14 2012 Kelly gives the saint s day of the Genoese Valentine as May 3 and also claims that Richard s engagement was announced on this day Chaucer The Parliament of Fowls Archived from the original on January 21 2017 wsu edu Oruch 1981 539 Ansgar 1986 Chapter 5 Grandson Pardo and Gower pp 64 76 a b Ansgar 1986 Chapter 8 The Hibermantino of the Mating Season pp 131 138 Goodrich Peter 1996 Law in the Courts of Love wikisource Translation A Farewell to Love in wikisource History Channel Archived October 22 2016 at the Wayback Machine historychannel com Davis Norman The 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commercialize the association between confectionery and romance producing a heart shaped box of chocolates for Valentine s Day in 1868 a b Valentine s Day spending is global Mast Media Archived from the original on March 3 2016 Lenz Kristin February 10 2012 On Valentine s Day do we still need Hallmark The Washington Post Archived from the original on February 17 2012 Retrieved February 14 2012 New Patterns for Worship Church of England 2002 p 408 ISBN 0715120603 Hill Sharon February 13 2013 Married couples invited to renew vows on Valentine s Day Windsor Star Retrieved February 13 2021 Teahan Madeleine February 12 2016 Bishops release novena for single Catholics ahead of St Valentine s Day The Catholic Herald Archived from the original on February 13 2016 Retrieved February 12 2016 a b Domingo Ronnel Among Asians Filipinos dig Valentine s Day the most Archived October 26 2015 at the Wayback Machine Philippine Daily Inquirer February 14 2008 Retrieved February 21 2008 Alexander Sanchez 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Amor y la Amistad Santillana Archived from the original on February 14 2018 Retrieved February 13 2018 Colombia hypes up for love and friendship Colombia Reports September 16 2009 Retrieved February 14 2018 John Roach February 12 2010 Valentine s Day Facts Gifts History and Love Science National Geographic Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Andreano Caterina Shapiro Emily February 14 2017 Valentine s Day by the numbers ABC News Retrieved February 13 2018 Stoddard Catherine January 28 2022 Companies allow people to opt out of Valentine s Day emails Fox13 Retrieved January 28 2022 Noori Hikmat February 14 2022 Separated on Valentine s Day the Afghan lovers with only bittersweet memories The National Retrieved February 14 2022 Mashal Mujib Faizi Fatima February 14 2019 A Valentine in Uncertain Times I Kiss You Amid the Taliban The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved February 4 2020 Taliban crack down against Valentine s Day in Kabul La Prensa Latina Media February 14 2022 Retrieved February 14 2022 ভ ল ব স দ বস ন য ইত হ স যত কথ RTV Online কব থ ক ভ ল ব স দ বস র শ র দ ন ক ইত ত ফ ক archive ittefaq com bd in Bengali Retrieved February 14 2020 Minhajuddin February 14 2020 ব শ ব ভ লব স দ বস আজ Bangladesh News Agency bna in Bengali Retrieved February 14 2020 ভ ল ব স দ বস আজ Khola Kagoj BD Retrieved February 14 2020 a b c Srivastava Spriha February 4 2017 These countries have banned Valentine s Day CNBC Retrieved February 25 2021 ভ য ল ন ট ইন স ড অন ভ ত প রক শ র ব হ ন ম ত র BBC News ব ল in Bengali February 14 2019 Retrieved February 14 2020 ১৪ ফ ব র য র ভ লব স নয অশ ল লত র আগ র সন দ বস DailyInqilabOnline Retrieved February 14 2020 ভ ল ব স য চ প পড ছ স ব র চ র প রত র ধ দ বস jagonews24 com Retrieved February 14 2020 Schomp Virginia 2009 The ancient Chinese New York Marshall Cavendish Benchmark p 70 ISBN 978 0 7614 4216 5 White Day Triggers Consumption Enthusiasm china org cn China Internet Information Center Retrieved March 13 2014 a b c d e Rana Vijay February 14 2002 India s fascination with Valentine s Day BBC Archived from the original on December 2 2014 Basu Tanya November 18 2014 The Politics of PDA in India The Atlantic Retrieved February 13 2018 a b c Steve Derne 2008 7 Globalizing gender culture Transnational cultural flows and the intensification of male dominance in India In Kathy E Ferguson Monique Mironesco eds Gender and globalization in Asia and the Pacific method practice theory University of Hawaii Press pp 127 129 ISBN 978 0 8248 3241 4 Archived from the original on September 13 2015 Why most Indians do not find Valentine s Day special The New Indian Express Retrieved February 14 2021 Subscribe Beware of Valentine s Day A cultural conversion of Hindus Hindu Janajagruti Samiti Retrieved February 14 2021 Islamic body urges youths not to celebrate V Day in country s interest Hindustan Times February 12 2017 Retrieved February 14 2021 a b George Monger 2004 Marriage customs of the world from henna to honeymoons illustrated ed ABC CLIO ISBN 978 1 57607 987 4 Archived from the original on October 21 2015 Anil Mathew Varughese 2003 Globalization versus cultural authenticity Valentine s Day and Hindu values In Richard Sandbrook ed Civilizing globalization a survival guide SUNY series in radical social and political theory illustrated ed SUNY Press p 53 ISBN 978 0 7914 5667 5 Archived from the original on September 15 2015 a b Hindu and Muslim anger at Valentine s BBC February 11 2003 Archived from the original on March 5 2016 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Sharma Satya 1996 The cultural costs of a globalized economy for India Dialectical Anthropology 21 3 4 299 316 doi 10 1007 BF00245771 S2CID 144173442 Mankekar Purnima 1999 Screening Culture Viewing Politics An Ethnography of Television Womanhood Nation in Postcolonial India Duke University Press ISBN 0 8223 2390 7 As quoted in India Today Pot Pourri Generation September 15 issue 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the time is right a b c d Patron zakochanych Chelmno miasto zakochanych in Polish Retrieved February 14 2021 Poelzl Volker 2009 CultureShock Portugal A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd p 174 ISBN 9789814435628 Retrieved February 14 2018 Valentine s Day versus Dragobete Archived from the original on June 27 2010 Retrieved February 14 2007 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link cultura ro in Romanian Dragobete s Day Celebrating love in the Romanian style Romania Tours Retrieved March 2 2016 Cuza Elena dragobeteeng Retrieved February 13 2018 a b Ripa Ellen February 6 2017 Valentine s Day the Scandinavian way Skandiblog Skandihome Retrieved February 13 2018 Sweden Valentine s Day celebration traditions by gender 2016 Statista Retrieved February 13 2018 a b Y San Valentin llego a Espana de mano de Galerias Preciados ABC in Spanish February 13 2014 Retrieved February 14 2022 Last Valentine s Day I was in a relationship This year I m single and I know I ll enjoy it The Independent Retrieved June 4 2020 7 things you probably didn t know about St Dwynwen s Day Wales Online January 25 2018 Retrieved February 13 2018 Valentine s Day 2016 Jane Austen tops poll to find most romantic line from literature film and TV The Independent Retrieved June 4 2020 چاپ تزئینات ولنتاین در ایران ممنوع شد in Persian BBC news Retrieved February 19 2020 راه درست برخورد با ولنتاین in Persian fararunews February 19 2017 Retrieved February 19 2020 دادستانی قم به جشن عشاق ورود کرد Yong Journalists Club Yong Journalists Club February 13 2021 Retrieved February 13 2021 ولنتاین غیررسمی ترین جشنی که با خواب مسئولان رسمی شد in Persian TABNAK professional news site Retrieved February 19 2020 ولنتاین تهاجم یا تهدید فرهنگی ISNA News Agency Retrieved February 19 2020 Bibliography Ansgar Kelly Henry 1986 The Valentines of February Chaucer and the cult of Saint Valentine Davis medieval texts and studies vol 5 Brill ISBN 978 90 04 07849 9Further readingAnthony M Sammarco January 24 2022 Valentine s Day Traditions in Boston America Through Time ISBN 978 1635001075 External links Media related to Valentine s Day at Wikimedia Commons Quotations related to Valentine s Day at Wikiquote Works related to Portal Valentine s Day at Wikisource Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Valentine 27s Day amp oldid 1139247157, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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