Valentine’s Day 2024: History and why it is celebrated on February 14

New Delhi: Every year, on February 14, people across the globe observe Valentine’s Day to celebrate love and companionship with their partners.

The celebration of Valentine’s week is underway and the much awaited Valentine’s Day is almost here. Valentine’s week will end with the celebration of Valentine’s Day on February 14. The day is known as the most preferred occasion to express your love and affection for your loved ones.

Every year, people across the globe observe Valentine’s Day to celebrate love and companionship with their special someone.

Valentine’s Day marks the final day following a week-long celebration of Valentine’s Week. It starts with Rose Day followed by Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day, and Kiss Day.

There are several legends revolving around the origin of Valentine’s Day, and here are a few. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the history of Valentine’s Day is linked to the Roman festival of Lupercalia, which used to take place in the mid-February. The festival is celebrated during the onset of the spring season.

In this festival, women used to be paired with men through a lottery. At the end of the 5th century, it is believed that Pope Gelasius I replaced the celebration with St. Valentine’s Day. However, Valentine’s Day was not marked as the celebration of a day of love until about the 14th century.

On the other hand, some other popular legends suggest that the day is named after St. Valentine of Terni, who was a Bishop. While another legend suggests that it got its name from the priest Valentine.

It states that he once sent a letter to his jailer’s daughter whom he had befriended and signed the letter as “from your Valentine”. He was martyred at around 270 CE by emperor Claudius II Gothicus.

According to another story, disobeying the king’s orders, St. Valentine secretly married off several couples on this day to save the husbands from war. The day was eventually associated with love and companionship.

Following the same, the practice of sending messages appeared in the 1500s and by the late 1700s, the commercially printed cards were also accessible. However, now the gifts include toys, chocolates, flowers, and traditional letters as well.

Valentine’s Day is popularly symbolised by the Roman god of love, Cupid. According to Roman mythology, Cupid is the son of Venus, and his bow and arrow piercing a heart depicts love. Therefore, Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating the feeling of being in love.

Valentine’s Day was not celebrated as the day of romance until the 14th century. The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14. However, in the 14th and 15th centuries, it became associated with love when notions of courtly love flourished with the association of “lovebirds” of early spring.