Some Valentine’s Day ramblings!

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

In actual fact, if I have any thoughts about Valentine’s Day it’s that we shouldn’t go round wishing people a Happy Valentine’s Day! The cynical bit of me goes round muttering about it being an invention of the card companies, along with Easter cards (just about acceptable), Hallowe’en cards (certainly an invention -we NEVER used to see, let alone send, cards for Hallowe’en) and probably Winter Solstice and Summer Solstice cards! But I am aware that Valentine’s Day goes back a bit further than mass produced cards.

Back in the 3rd century AD, the Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine was a Christian priest who felt that this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret. When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown into jail and sentenced to death. There, he fell in love with the jailer's daughter, apparently restored her sight, and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed "from your Valentine". So he was a Christian martyr AND he performed a miracle - perfect qualifications for sainthood.

The first Valentine’s Day was in the year 496, according to some sources. However, the celebration might have even older origins, going back to an old Roman festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February - officially the start of their springtime. The story goes that as part of the celebrations, boys drew names of girls from a box. Hmm! Why did the girls not get to pull boys names out? Anyway they'd be boyfriend and girlfriend during the festival and sometimes they'd get married.

Later on, the church wanted to turn this festival into a Christian celebration, as they did with so many Roman or pagan festivals, and Pope Gelasius I decided to use it to remember St Valentine too.

Gradually, St Valentine's name started to be used by people to express their feelings to those they loved. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love of flourished, apparently by association with the "lovebirds” of early spring. In 18th-century England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). 

Greetings cards were usually handmade and traditionally should have been sent anonymously. In Thomas Hardy’s “Far from the Madding Crowd”, Bathsheba Everdene takes it into her head to send a Valentine to shy farmer Mr Boldwood, a mischievous, mocking act which has unforeseen consequences as the farmer works out who it is and falls in love with her. This leads to the usual tangled web of fate-will-get-you-in-the-end events that I associate with Hardy. That’s why you should never read Hardy if you are at all depressed. I usually object to the idea of warming students that books and place contain depressing events, but maybe it is necessary with Thomas Hardy novels.

So, you see, according to some sources, Valentine cards should not be sent to your mum or your granny - heaven forfend! Nor should we expect Valentine cards and presents from boyfriends/girlfriends, fiancé(e)s, long term partners or spouses! A friend of mine posted this story:

“The True Spirit Of Valentine's Day...

Some years ago,I overheard the following conversation down the D corridor in Pendleton College.

Female Student A to Female Student B,with respect to A's (absent) boyfriend:

'IF 'E DUNT GET ME SUMMINK NICE FOR VALENTINE'S DAY,I'M GONNA PROPER BATTER 'IM...'

You can just about distinguish the sound of Cupid's wings beating in the background.

Hope you all enjoy the day - in your own way.”

Another, younger, friend has posted this more positive thought:

“With it being valentine's day today it means one thing - pancake day is on it's way!!!!!!! #prioritiesstraight”.

Now, I wonder if my 8 year granddaughter is sending a card to her classmate and good friend Gabriel. Gabriel likes to go and play at  my granddaughter’s house but I suspect he may not know that she plans to marry him. She has date and venue set for the wedding and everything! Romance is not dead!

One final note:

Saint Valentine's Day is not a public holiday in any country, although it is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran Church. Many parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrate Saint Valentine's Day on July 6 in honor of Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and on July 30 in honor of Hieromartyr* Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni in Umbria, aka The City of Lovers). So many Valentines!

*In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, a hieromartyr is a martyr who was a bishop or priest. Analogously, a monk who is a priest is known as a hieromonk.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!