Valentine Week 2020: Did you know the history of the day?

Valentine’s Week Days List 2020: The month of love and romance brings with it sheer excitement and lots of promises. It not only means looking forward to spending time with dear ones but an opportune time to plan the perfect date, pop the question to your beloved and express love. However, there is more to the dedicated day of love than meets the eye. The day is named after the mysterious Saint Valentine and finds its origin in a Roman festival of fertility known as Lupercalia.

History of Valentine’s Day

It is believed that the day of Valentine’s is celebrated to commemorate the death anniversary of Saint Valentine who died in February, way back in 270 AD. But others believe that the celebrations have its roots in the church’s attempt to ‘Christianise’ the Roman Lupercalia festival that was dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, along with the Roman founders of Romulus and Remus.

As per the story, the celebrations included men picking names of women from a box and expressing their love for them during the festival. Sometimes, this would also culminate in marriage.

By the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius chose the time of Lupercalia celebrations as the date to commemorate Saint Valentine, thus leading to the association of Valentine’s Day with romance and beginning of love.

Who is Saint Valentine and why is the day named after him?

Saint Valentine was believed to help Christian couples in love to secretly get married. This led to his beheading by Emperor Claudius II who had prohibited males from getting married as he thought single men made for dedicated and better soldiers. However, Saint Valentine did not support this idea and therefore, facilitated weddings of people who were in love and decided to marry.

Importance and Significance of Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day celebrates love and companionship. The celebrations start a week before with Rose Day when people express their love by giving roses to each other. It is followed by Propose Day when lovers pop the question. Then comes Chocolate Day followed by Teddy Day when chocolates and teddy bears are exchanged as a symbol of love. The next two days are celebrated as Hug Day and Kiss Day.