DIA DE SAN VALENTIN - ST VALENTINE'S DAY
ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT FIESTAS IN THE ANNUAL CALENDAR
Valentine's Day is celebrated on 14th February, the feast day of St. Valentine. It is
a traditional celebration in which lovers, partners and married couples express their love
and affection for each other. In some countries it is known as The Day of Lovers or The
Day of Love and Friendship. These days it is celebrated with the exchanging of cards
known as valentines, with patterns on of hearts or Cupid; but with the rise of the Internet
the custom of exchanging virtual cards has also increased. Common as well is the tradition
of giving roses or tokens of love.
Since the nineteenth century, people have exchanged cards and gifts like roses and
chocolates. The gift of roses is common between couples, friends and family, and the
colour of the roses determines the message expressed. For example, the red rose
symbolizes love, white represents peace and yellow represents friendship.
However, like most holiday celebrations, Valentine's Day has been commercialized and
now many think it seems more like a celebration organized by the shops and department
stores as any hint of romanticism has been lost.
Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day and how did it start?
Pope Gelasius declared 14th February St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. Various
theories exist regarding how Valentine's Day started and one of those describes a story
that mixes drama with romanticism, whereas others claim that the celebration came about
due to a pagan festival that was christianized.
Who is St Valentine?
The Catholic Church recognizes 11 Saint Valentines and 14th February celebrates at least
three of them:
1) Valentine of Rome: a roman priest who was martyred around the year 269 and was
buried on Via Flaminia. His relics can be found in the Church of Saint Práxedes in Rome
and in the Carmelite church of Whitefriar Street in Dublin (Ireland).
2) Valentine of Terni: around the year 197 he was named bishop of Interamna (now called
Terni). He is also buried on Via Flaminia, but in a different place to Saint Valentine of
Rome. His relics can be found in the Basilica of Saint Valentine of Terni.
3) A third saint called Valentine (according to the Catholic Encyclopedia) was mentioned in
the early martyrologies under the same date (14th February). It only states that he was
martyrized in Africa with some companion
Why is it celebrated on the 14th February?
Some think that Valentine's Day is on 14th February because this is the date when Saint
Valentine died or was buried. Others believe that it is celebrated mid-February because it
was an attempt by the Catholic church to christianize the celebrations of the pagan festival
of fertility 'Lupercalia' which started on 15th February.
