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 Valentine’s Day.  Some people love it, some hate it.  A lot is spent on this holiday that many feel is just a way to sell greeting cards, chocolate, flowers and expense restaurants.  And while this is true, did you know that its origins come from a long history recorded by the Belgian monks and dating back to the Christian martyrs and Roman Fertility festivals?

I did a little digging to find out its origins and was surprised to learn that Valentines Days had little to do with showing love to your betroth but more about beheadings and martyrdom of Saints.  It was pretty gruesome in fact.  So how did we get from the Valentine’s of yesterday to today’s expressions of love?

Here are some interesting facts about Valentine’s Day no matter how you feel about this holiday.

Nobody knows for sure if the holiday originally celebrated St. Valentine of Rome or St. Valentine of Terni, both of whom were martyred. Legends say that St. Valentine of Rome was a priest who defied the Roman Emperor Claudius II’s ban on soldiers getting married and continuing to marry couples in secret. Other stories say that he helped Christians escape Roman prisons and fell in love with the jailer’s daughter, writing her a letter signed “From your Valentine.”

In the 1300’s it officially became a holiday associated with love because it  was believed that February 14 was the start of birds’ mating season. Chaucer helped spur the  connection between Valentine’s Day, birds and romance with his 1375 poem “Parliament of Foules.

Not to be outdone by the Romans, ancient Greece, Eros, the Greek god of love, was depicted as a handsome young man and had the power to make people fall madly in love. Over time, he was adopted by the Romans and became known as Cupid, his image changing to the little boy with the bow and arrow. Because of his love-inspiring powers, he became linked to Valentine’s Day by the turn of the 19th century.

The first Valentine was sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans, who wrote it to his wife while he was a political prisoner in the Tower of London. One of the lines in the poem? “I am already sick of love, My very gentle Valentine.”

In the 17^th century, people started exchanging cards and letters with their lovers and friends. But the first mass-produced Valentines didn’t arrive on the scene until the 1840s. Known as the “Mother of the American Valentine,” Esther A. Howland sold cards with lace and ribbons that commercialized Valentines in America.

Giving red roses may be an obvious romantic gesture today, but it wasn’t always! In the late 1700s, Lady Montagu was the wife of the British ambassador to Turkey. She misunderstood a local custom of using rhyming words to convey secret messages and thought the flowers themselves that were used in the rhymes represented secret meaning. This idea of “flower language” caught on in Europe, where specific flowers could represent feelings of love, hate, regret and more. Over time, red roses became more and more linked with romance.

Whether you think Valentine’s Day is “yuk” or Yummy, take the time to show someone you care.  It doesn’t have to be a girlfriend, boyfriend, husband or wife.  Maybe it’s a neighbor who has seen you struggle with packages and has come to offer assistance.  Maybe it’s a co-worker staying late to help you meet an assignment.  And it doesn’t have to be with flowers, cards, or a fancy dinner.  It might be a smile, a touch, or a few moments spent to show them that they are your Valentine.  God encourages us to “clothe themselves with love, which binds people together in harmony (Colossians 3:14).  No matter how Valentine’s day was transformed, this world still needs a bit of love, don’t you think?  So use this Valentine’s Day to show some love and care to those that make a difference in your life.

And to my readers, I thank you for reading my blog.  You make a difference in my life by giving me purpose and providing feedback.  I pray that through my words I make a difference in some small way.

Happy Valentine’s Day!    Loretta

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