Valentine's Day (All Lovers' Day)
Description:
And in Russia there was a holiday of lovers, only it was celebrated not in winter, but in early summer. It was associated with the legendary love story of Peter and Fevronia and is dedicated to Kupala - a pagan Slavic god, the son of Perun.
However, paganism is pagan, but there is a holiday and a specific "culprit" - the Christian priest Valentine. This story dates back to around 269, when Emperor Claudius II ruled the Roman Empire. The belligerent Roman army experienced an acute shortage of soldiers for military campaigns, and the commander was convinced that the main enemy of his “Napoleonic” plans was marriage, for a married legionary thinks much less about the glory of the empire than about how to feed his family. And, in order to preserve the military spirit in his soldiers, the emperor issued a decree forbidding legionnaires to marry.
But the soldiers fell in love with it did not become less. And fortunately, there was a man who, not afraid of the imperial wrath, began secretly to marry the legionnaires with their lovers. He was a priest named Valentine of the Roman city of Terni. Apparently, he was a real romantic, since his favorite entertainments were to reconcile quarrels, help write love letters and give flowers to the objects of their passion at the request of legionnaires.
Obviously, as soon as the emperor learned about this, he decided to stop his “criminal activities”. Valentine was sentenced to death. The tragedy of the situation was that Valentine himself was in love with the jailer’s daughter. The day before the execution, the priest wrote a farewell letter to the girl, in which he told about his love, and signed it “Your Valentine”. It was read after he was executed.
Subsequently, as a Christian martyr who suffered for his faith, Valentine was canonized by the Catholic Church. In 496, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 Valentine’s Day.
Since 1969, as a result of the reform of the divine service, St. Valentine was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church (along with other Roman saints, information about the lives of whom is contradictory and unreliable). However, until 1969, the church did not approve or support the traditions of celebrating this day.
Whether it was so or otherwise, but, apparently, it was there that began to write love notes on Valentine’s Day – “valentine cards”. And on this holiday they like to arrange weddings and get married. It is believed that this will be the pledge of eternal love.
Mass Valentine's Day is celebrated since the XIII century in Western Europe, since 1777 in the United States.
The tradition of giving gifts on this day grew stronger every year and became quite a successful business for some. For example, at the beginning of the last century, Americans used to send their brides marzipans, which were quite expensive.
In Japan, the tradition of giving sweets on this day appeared with the filing of a large chocolate company. Valentine’s Day began in the 30s, and chocolate is still the most common gift. By the way, there is Valentine’s Day slightly reminiscent of “March 8 for men”, as Japanese men receive, perhaps, even more gifts than women. Usually these are all kinds of men's accessories such as razor, lotion, wallet and so on.
Passionate French people, on Valentine’s Day, usually give jewelry, and in romantic Denmark, people send dried white flowers to each other.
In Britain, unmarried girls on February 14 get up before sunrise, stand near the window and look at the passing men. According to legend, the first man they see is a betrothed man.
But there are some countries in the world that especially distinguished themselves in the celebration of Valentine’s Day. First of all, it is Saudi Arabia, which is the only country in the world where this holiday is officially banned, and under penalty of heavy fines.