Many young students may be on their way to their local stores this week to make, which may be a tough decision: what Valentine’s cards to get! It is a decision that many have made and remember the feeling of going to school filled with anticipation and excitement of the Valentine’s card exchange.
With so many different themes and styles to choose from, parents may want to prepare for the extended time spent at the store. With cards ranging from television and movie characters to cards adapted to actually function as a holder for candy as well, the options are endless.
Regardless of how long the decision may take, many young students take pride in their choice and cannot wait for that moment to go around the classroom and handout their very special cards to their very special classmates. Additionally, the excitement of looking into their own bags to see what sweet cards and treats they received.
Valentine’s Day is one of the holiday’s that gives us memories, such as these, from a very young age. Traditions of gift exchanges and dates on this day are filled with the messages of appreciation, gratefulness, admiration and love. It is a day to show the appreciation and love you have for the people in your life that make you feel so special and loved.
Today, Valentine’s Day has become a day to express affection among relatives, friends and partners, but how far back does the social custom go? And how did an ancient Roman festival become the day of love?
The origins of Valentine’s Day comes from both Catholic and ancient Roman history. The Catholic Church recognizes several different tales of at least three saints named Valentine or Valentinus, according to History.com. One of the tales states that Saint Valentine was a priest in third century Rome, who defied Emperor Claudius II. Claudius, feeling that single men were better suited for war, outlawed marriage for young men. Wanting to right the injustice, Saint Valentine continued to perform marriages for young couples in secret. When his actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that Valentine be put to death.
However, Valentine’s Day may also have descended from the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. The festival was held in mid-February and celebrated the coming of spring, according to Britannica. Roman priests would begin the festival at the cave, known to be where Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were said to have been nursed for by the she-wolf, lupa. The priests would perform animal sacrifices for purification and fertility. The blood from these sacrifices was then put onto women, in the hopes of fertility in the coming months. Later during the festival, the young women of the city would place their names in an urn and the single men would each choose a name and become paired for the year with the woman, often ending in marriage.
There are several legends and tales of the origins of Valentine’s Day, one thing to agree on is that the day has come a long way into what we know now. A day of Valentine’s cards for classmates, a day of appreciation towards friends and family, and a day of romance and love between couples. No matter how you spend your Valentine’s Day, remember to remind the ones closest to you, how truly treasured they are.