Association mid-February with love and fertility has existed since eternity. According to the chronicle of ancient Athens calendar, the period between mid-January to mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera god.
In ancient Rome, February 15th was the feast of Lupercalia, a celebration of Lupercus, the god of fertility, which represented half naked and dressed in goat skins. As part of the purification ritual, the priests of Lupercus would sacrifice goats to the god, and after drinking wine, they would run in jejalanan of Rome holding pieces of sheepskin touching anyone they met. Especially young women would come forward voluntarily because they believe that it will be blessed with fertility and can give birth easily.
Feast of the Church
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (Catholic Encyclopaedia 1908), the name may refer Valentinus least three martyr or saint (a holy man) is different:
* A priest in Rome
* A bishop Interamna (modern Terni)
* A martyr in the Roman province of Africa.
The connection between these three martyrs with romantic love feast unclear. Even Pope Gelasius I, in the year 496, stating that in fact nothing is known about these martyrs but on February 14 set as the saint's feast day warning Valentinus. Some say that Pope Gelasius I accidentally set it to outperform the feast of Lupercalia which was celebrated on February 15.
Skeletal remains unearthed from the tomb of Saint Hyppolytus he Via Tibertinus near Rome, identified as the body of St. Valentinus. Then placed in a gold coffin and sent to the church Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland. The body has been given to them by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836. Many travelers now make pilgrimages to this church on Valentine's Day, where the wine-gold coffin was paraded in a solemn procession and brought to a high altar. On that day a special Mass was held and dedicated to the young people and those who are in a relationship of love.
The feast was removed from the ecclesiastical calendar in 1969 as part of a broader effort to remove saints whose origin is questionable, and based only legend. But the feast is still celebrated in certain parishes.
Valentinus
Gnosticism influential science teacher Valentinus, was a candidate for bishop of Rome in 143. In his teachings, wedding bed has a prominent place in the version of Christian Charity. The emphasis is much different from the concept ... Christianity in general. Stephan A. Hoeller, an expert, Valentinus had this to say about this: "In addition to the sacrament of baptism, the strengthening, the Eucharist, the priesthood and the oil, the flow gnosis prominent Valentinus also emphasizes two great and mysterious sacraments called" penance "(apolytrosis) and" place aisle "..." [1].
Medieval Era
First recorded association of St. Valentine's feast day with romantic love is in the 14th century in England and France, where it is believed that 14 February is the day when the birds looking for a partner for mating. This belief is mentioned in the writings of the famous Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. He wrote in a story Parlement of Foules ("Conversation Birds") that
For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day ("That is sent on the day of St. Valentine")
Whan every foul Cometh ther to choose his mate ("When all the birds come there to pick her partner")
In those days it is common for lovers to exchange notes on this day and called pasanagan their "Valentine" them. A Valentine card from the 14th century is said to be part of the collection of the British Library in London pernaskahan. Chances are many legends about the saint Valentine created in this era. Some of them told me that:
* The evening before Valentine was a saint would fall as martyrs (dead martyr), he wrote a little love statement rendered to the prison warden says "From Valentinusmu".
* When the Roman soldiers were forbidden to marry by the Emperor Claudius II, St. Valentine secretly helped marry them.
In most versions of these legends, February 14 linked to miscarriage as a martyr.
Valentine's Day in modern era
Valentine's Day was probably imported into North America from the United Kingdom, a country that colonized the region. In the United States the first Valentine card mass-produced printed after 1847 by Esther A. Howland (1828 - 1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts. His father owned a bookstore and office supply stores are great and he was inspired to produce the card from an English valentine she had received. (Since 2001, the Greeting Card Association annually awards issued "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary.")
