The reasons why we celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14

 

Valentine's Day is celebrated annually on February 14. Valentine's Day is not a public holiday in any country, although it is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran Church.

According to the legend, the story of this loving day is not filled with love. It is about a confrontation between a saint valentine and a cruel king. Saint Valentine was a priest in Rome and served during the third century. At that time there was a cruel king named Claudius II.

Claudius believed that Roman soldiers should be completely devoted to Rome and therefore passed a law preventing them from marrying.

He believed that by love or marriage, soldiers forget their goals and the married man is always worried about what will happen to his family after his death. Due to this concern, he is unable to pay full attention to the battle. Keeping this in mind, King Claudius announced that no soldier of his kingdom will marry and anyone who did not listen to him will be punished severely.

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St Valentine began to marry these soldiers in secret Christian ceremonies and this was the beginning of his reputation for believing in the importance of love. When King Claudius got the news, he sentenced Saint Valentine to death.

Valentine was found out and jailed for his crimes against Claudius. While imprisoned, Valentine cared for his fellow prisoners and also his jailor's blind daughter. Legend has it that Valentine cured the girl's blindness and that his final act before being executed was to write her a love message signed ‘from your Valentine'. Valentine was executed on 14 February in the year 270.

It wasn't until more than 200 years later that 14 February was proclaimed St Valentine's Day. By this time Rome had become Christian and the Catholic Church was determined to stamp out any remaining paganism. A pagan fertility ritual was held in February each year and the Pope abolished this festival and proclaimed 14 February Saint Valentine's Day, thus establishing this feast day on the Catholic Calendar of Saints.

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Who Is Cupid?

Cupid is often portrayed on Valentine’s Day cards as a naked cherub launching arrows of love at unsuspecting lovers. But the Roman God Cupid has his roots in Greek mythology as the Greek god of love, Eros. Accounts of his birth vary; some say he is the son of Nyx and Erebus; others, of Aphrodite and Ares; still others suggest he is the son of Iris and Zephyrus or even Aphrodite and Zeus.

According to the Greek Archaic poets, Eros was a handsome immortal played with the emotions of Gods and men, using golden arrows to incite love and leaden ones to sow aversion. It wasn’t until the Hellenistic period that he began to be portrayed as the mischievous, chubby child he’d become on Valentine’s Day cards.

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You have to know that you can celebrate the day of love however you want, even if it's just through self-love.

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