Día de San Valentín. Valentine's Day
14 de febrero. 14th February
February 14th is the day we celebrate Valentine's Day. Today it is celebrated as a holiday for lovers, where they give each other gifts of candy, flowers and jewelry. The actual day originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop.
For 800 years before the formation of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating a young man's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration included a lottery where young men would draw names of teenage girls from a box. The girl designated to each young man would then be his sweetheart or sexual companion during the remaining year.
To do away with this pagan ritual, Pope Gelasius ordered a change in the lottery. Instead of names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women would draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes.
Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church chose the patron saint of love to take his place. They chose Valentine, who was beheaded in AD 270 by Emperor Claudius.
Claudius felt married men made poor soldiers, that as married men, his soldiers would want to stay home with their families rather than fight his wars, so marriage in his empire was illegal. But Valentine would secretly marry couples that came to him. When Claudius learned of what Valentine was doing he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine switched his strategy, instead trying to convert Claudius. When his attempts failed, he was stoned and beheaded. It is said that Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve of the Roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death, Valentine was named a saint. As Rome became more Christian, the priests moved the spring holiday from the 15th of February to the 14th - Valentine's Day. Now the holiday honored Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus.
During Valentine's imprisonment, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.
Even though the church prohibited the lottery for women, the February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine, was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became custom for men to give the women they admired handwritten notes of love and affection, including Valentine's name.
It is believed that the first Valentine card grew out of this custom. The first actual Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.
Another symbol of Valentines Day, Cupid, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty.
(Fuente: http://www.emotionscards.com/trivia/Valentines/valentinesday.html)
For 800 years before the formation of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating a young man's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration included a lottery where young men would draw names of teenage girls from a box. The girl designated to each young man would then be his sweetheart or sexual companion during the remaining year.
To do away with this pagan ritual, Pope Gelasius ordered a change in the lottery. Instead of names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women would draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes.
Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church chose the patron saint of love to take his place. They chose Valentine, who was beheaded in AD 270 by Emperor Claudius.
Claudius felt married men made poor soldiers, that as married men, his soldiers would want to stay home with their families rather than fight his wars, so marriage in his empire was illegal. But Valentine would secretly marry couples that came to him. When Claudius learned of what Valentine was doing he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine switched his strategy, instead trying to convert Claudius. When his attempts failed, he was stoned and beheaded. It is said that Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve of the Roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death, Valentine was named a saint. As Rome became more Christian, the priests moved the spring holiday from the 15th of February to the 14th - Valentine's Day. Now the holiday honored Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus.
During Valentine's imprisonment, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.
Even though the church prohibited the lottery for women, the February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine, was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became custom for men to give the women they admired handwritten notes of love and affection, including Valentine's name.
It is believed that the first Valentine card grew out of this custom. The first actual Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.
Another symbol of Valentines Day, Cupid, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty.
(Fuente: http://www.emotionscards.com/trivia/Valentines/valentinesday.html)
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