Valentine's Day has become the day of love in which we cherish our beloved and try our best to make them feel special. The day is marked with flowers, chocolates, cakes, and many gifts. The gifts we send to our beloved translate to the love we want to convey. But it was not always like this when everybody could express their love freely. Valentine’s Day what we know today and how we see was not always not like this. This day came to be a day when you can proclaim your love without any fear had it its struggles. This bright day where we can bask in the warmth of love emerged from the darkest of days. The history of Valentine's Day traditions has been lost in the sands of time. If you think deeply about this day then you will find yourself asking questions like how February came to be called the month that celebrates love. How long has it been this way? What makes 14th February so special? Why Valentine’s Day is celebrated? To clear these questions and to celebrate the day knowing the history and traditions behind it. We are going to explore the corridors of history so that we can cherish and devote this day to love and honor those for whom this day came into our lives.
The day gets its name from the saint Valentine, the patron saint on whom the day came into effect. The history of this day is shrouded in mystery and there are many speculations about the day and activities associated with it. But to understand the history of Valentine's Day traditions we rely on the legends and the scriptures of ancient Rome. There are two versions of this story and both of them are distinct only the protagonist the saint remains the same in both. Just like that the church recognizes three distinct saints named Valentine and Valentinus who were martyred. Hence, we can understand the dilemma and the trouble of recording the history accurately. But at the same time, the pages of history are filled with stories and records based on the rough knowledge of what has happened. Here, let us explore the two different stories that have become the base of the day’s history.
The first legend starts with the proclamation of King Claudius the Second. The King believed that the unmarried young soldiers served better than the married ones. So, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine the then-saint of third-century Rome found this injustice and he defied the King. He kept performing marriages of young men and women in secret but he was soon caught and beheaded by King Claudius the Second. Many believe that it was the saint Valentine of Terni on whose honor the day has been named after him and celebrated as the day of love. Then again there is another story in which Valentine was a bishop who helped the Christian prisoners escape from the harsh clutches of the Romans. The prisoners were often tortured, beaten, and even killed in the prisons. Valentine soon was caught by the Romans and was imprisoned for attempting to help the prisoners escape. According to the legend an imprisoned Valentine probably fell in love with the jailor’s daughter who would often come to meet him in the prison. It is said that before his beheading, Valentine wrote a last letter to the jailor’s daughter his beloved which he signed as “From your Valentine”. The phrase is still used to signify a lover to this day. Although both the stories are distinct and not to mention murky in their demeanor we cannot deny that the saints in both stories were sympathetic, brave, heroic, and most importantly filled with love. Hence, the day is believed to be the day of love where brave hearts come forward and express their love to their beloved.
This is how Valentine’s Day came into existence with the people strongly believing in love and compassion. This day is all about love and by saying this we mean love in its all forms. Love is a broader emotion that cannot be narrowed down. Thus, even though this day is mostly celebrated by youngsters with their significant other. One can also celebrate it with their friends, and family too. The day is now associated with flowers that convey love and appreciation with chocolates and gifts. Gifts are the most integral part of the celebration after flowers and cakes that have etched their importance on this day. Lovers express their love with thoughtful gifts, Valentine’s Day gifts photo gifts, and flowers which almost seem like a tradition. No matter near or far, gifts have become the medium through which one can convey love. The people have also embraced the fact that gifts don’t have to be spectacular to convey their love they can be simple and still express their sentiments. Mostly gifts are based on the preferences and likes of a person. But we are very sure things were not like this back in time. The history of Valentine's Day traditions and the essence of gifting were somewhat different. Hence, we delve deeper into that as well to understand the day and its proceedings.
Valentine’s Day made its way into society as a day to celebrate the Middle Ages. It was in the nineteenth century that it found its pace and ever since has been a very important day to society. But roses were not the go-to flower when it came to Valentine’s Day. They were not the symbol of love that we believe today. The gifting tradition of Valentine’s Day in the past believed in sending their warm wishes in the form of flowers. The flowers would not just be a flower but a wholehearted message sent in the form of a bouquet. Expressing love through flowers was the most essential thing of Valentine’s hence, we know why the flowers are said to express love. As flowers have distinct meanings a bouquet with distinct flowers would encode a whole message. Lovers from that era would send bouquets and their beloved would decipher the underlying message. This was a way of communicating love through blushful and blooming flowers then came love letters and greeting cards in which lovers would pour their emotions in the form of prose or poetry that would eternalize their love. Gradually with the rise of florists and the availability of flowers roses made their way to be the symbols of love because of the crimson color which represented love and passion.
Slowly and steadily chocolates along with cakes also became a part of this celebration. Nowadays, people like to add gifts as well to these things to express their care and concerns which is another way of expressing affection. The traditions of Valentine’s have not been lost as people still send flowers to their loved ones to convey love and appreciation. It's just with time things have added to the list of traditions to express love. The essence is still the same, to convey love and concern. Now, with innovations and advancements, there are many things that we can do for our loved ones. We might not be able to bring stars from the sky for our beloved but we can give the world to them if we want to. Now with complete knowledge of history and traditions, you will be able to understand the significance of the day and maybe send wonderful Valentine’s Day gifts love gifts for her.
