Valentine’s Day is a widespread holiday which almost all countries of the world celebrate. And if people somewhere do not celebrate it, they’ve certaintly heard about it somewhere.
Today there is a lot of controversy surrounding this feast day which is so special for those who are in love and want to demonstrate their affection. They usually refer to the origin of the celebration and its expediency.
Therefore, today we will conduct our own “Valentine’s Day” investigation!
Origin of the holidays
Many believe that this holiday, as well as Halloween, came to us from the West, but it is not. The Feast of Saint Valentine appeared (at least in the form that we know today) in medieval Europe, from where it subsequently traveled to America.
So, February 14 has an association with the name of Christian St. Valentine. Nevertheless, in the reality there were at least three such characters:
– A priest and doctor who was executed on February 14 during persecution of Christians at the tie of Roman Emperor Claudius II.
– The bishop, who actually had the same fate: Emperor Claudius II decided to execute him for belonging to Christianity during the reign of Aurelian. He also suffered from it on February 14, and was even buried in the same place as his predecessor. This often led to misunderstandings.
– A candidate for the post of Pope who lived in Egypt and in his sermons spoke of marriage as an ideal of Christian love. However, no one know anything about his death and the place of burial.
Many people believe that all three Valentines magnified love, helped the young to settle disputes and married willingly lovers. Yet many people believe that the bishop Valentine was the protector of the lovers. But with his life history, not everything is clear.
The main theory of the holiday origin
Emperor Claudius II was a terrible opponent of marriages, because he thought that it impeded the soldiers. The emperor was sure that married men thought more about their wives and children than about the well-being of their own country.
Therefore, he banned marriages at all. However, Valentin married secretly all those who wanted to. Of course, it was not possible to conceal it from Claudia, so the culprit got to the prison.
There is no bad without good
Valentine and the daughter of a jailer Julia fell in love with each other and began to correspond. The story ended tragically. Before his death, on February 13, Valentine sent his beloved one the last letter signed with the words “Your Valentine”. The girl read this message only on February 14, when her beloved one was not alive anymore.
Interesting facts about Valentine’s Day in the world
Americans on Valentine’s Day congratulate not only the beloved, but also all friends and relatives. And in the beginning of the 10th century, local men gave their favorites marzipan, which at that time was quite an expensive pleasure. Confectioners picked up this trend and offered buyers a variety of delicacies with greetings to the holiday. The first were red and white caramel. Then there were boxes in the shape of the heart. And so the tradition has gradually come to this day.
Quite an interesting custom exists in Canada. On February 14, a woman can propose to her lover. If he refuses such a “gift”, then he may receive a fine or get into jail. Obviously, on this day, some men flee abroad, so that the women would not even see them.
In some countries, men gave their unmarried (yet) favorites clothing: if the girl took a gift, she agreed to marry this man
Once the girls believed in the belief: if the girl sees on this day a European robin (bird), then she has a destiny to marry a sailor, if a sparrow, then she will fall in love with a poor man and will become happy with him, and if she sees a goldfinch, her husband will be a millionaire.
Most of the valentines that people around the world receive are anonymous. Sometimes their senders write them with the left hand or right to left to add more confusion for their beloved ones. However, if you believe in the fate, you will have to look for the sender by yourself.
The record for the longest kiss in the world was set in New York
Robert and Mark Grievold kissed for 29 hours and 37 minutes. They were standing all this time, without sleeping, eating or interrupting kissing for other physiological needs.
Meanwhile, Alfred Wolfram set another record related to kisses in 1990, when this American from Minnesota kissed a great number of people in a set: 8001 persons for 8 hours.
By the number of sales, valentines occupy the first place, yielding only to Christmas cards. Women are the ones who buy most valentines, while men “specialize” more on candies, chocolates and bouquets of roses.
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The Roman Catholic Church inclines to believe that St. Valentine is not the patron of love, but of the people who are mentally ill. Therefore, icons often depict how he heals a boy from epilepsy.
We should also mention that the most collective marriage ceremony took place in Mexico in 2012, attended on February 14 by over 6,000 couples.
