History and celebration of Valentine's Day

History and Valentine's Day celebration practically inseparable. And knowing the history of the holiday on February 14, clearly understanding who Valentine really is - the celebrants will only benefit, because their celebration will be well thought out. It is also worth understanding the traditions and customs on this day.

Around this name has already formed a whole real legend, which is very, very difficult for ignorant people to understand. Even in those states where Catholicism is widespread, there are a number of misconceptions on this score. Various sources claim that it was either a presbyter, that is, an ordinary clergyman, or a bishop. And it is said that he married soldiers from the Roman legions with a church marriage at a time when this was strictly prohibited. In some versions of the story, it is even mentioned that many legionnaires, after such a ceremony, avoided further campaigns, tried in every possible way to leave the army and live a peaceful life.

When the authorities, or rather the Roman emperor, learned about such actions of Valentine, the culprit was imprisoned and then executed. But the legendary part does not end there either. Sometimes they even claim that Valentine sent a letter to some of his beloved, and signed - "your Valentine" - already from prison. It is usually stated that in honor of such an act, the tradition of celebrating February 14 appeared.

More precisely, two figures - a priest and a bishop, who were subsequently arbitrarily mixed with each other in the minds of people.There is another person with the same name, who also lived in the ancient Roman period, but no longer belonged to the church hierarchy. The dates of life of all three end no later than 270 AD, that is, the 3rd century.

Moreover, in the earliest surviving list of martyrs, their names are absent. About one of those Valentines, nothing is known at all, except for the fact of his death in the city of Carthage, along with a group of other pilgrims... Another of them was indeed a bishop in the city of Interamny, but information about the date of his death differs by almost 100 years. Which, however, is not surprising in an era when many centuries remained before the appearance of passports, certificates of death and birth. The fate of Presbyter Valentine is most accurately known - he was executed by beheading between 268 and 270 AD.

At that time, Christianity was still very, very small. The Roman legionaries of that era knew practically nothing about him, especially since adherence to this cult was strictly persecuted. And therefore, the mass wedding of soldiers can hardly be called at least some truthful version. But even this is not enough - it is worth mentioning right away that the wedding ceremony itself, in its complete form, was formed 500-600 years after those events, which even more reliably crosses out the legend.

At the end of the 5th century, Pontiff Gelasius decides to immortalize all Valentines in church memory. Most likely, even then reliable information about them was scarce, and therefore the decision to glorify was immediately applied to them and to a number of other martyrs. The decision directly says that "names are justly revered among people, but deeds are known only to the Lord God." The date of the celebration was not chosen by chance - it was appointed to erase from memory the more ancient, purely pagan holiday of Lupercalia... One way or another, it is clear that in the modern sense, Valentine's Day was not celebrated at that time.

The emergence of this celebration in reality happened not so long ago as it is commonly believed. Even literally in 1999, it was completely unknown that it was celebrated anywhere in Russia. However, this does not mean that the celebration has no background - even if it looks significantly different from what is commonly thought. In the Christian tradition, this day means only the memory of the martyrdom of Valentine.... No church sees any connection with romantic themes.

During the reign of Pope Julius I, a church dedicated to the saint appeared in the Ponte Molle area. At the same time, the city gates of Rome were named in his honor for a long time. Zealous Christians and experts on this religion note references to Valentine in the lives of the saints of the British branch of the cult, in the Sacramentary and some other sources. In medieval graphics, it is customary to depict him either with a sword and an olive branch in his hands, or bringing healing.

In 1260, the so-called Golden Legend says that he allegedly met with the emperor Claudius, and then healed someone from vision and hearing problems. But at the same time, there was still no slightest mention of romantic stories, secret transmission of notes, illegal marriages.

Now many are inclined to believe that Valentine's Day was actually invented by Jeffrey Chaucer. Rather, in one of his works, he casually mentioned that it was on this day that birds begin to look for a mate. It is worth noting that even from a purely ornithological point of view, this judgment is not entirely correct, and the shift of the Julian calendar still managed to do its job.

But it was precisely such a statement that was picked up by the writers of the era of Romanticism, and then even spread in many solid and solid sources.Already in the encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron, information was given, if not about the celebration, but about a specific tradition that appeared in England in the XIV century. As if tickets were taken from special urns, and by the coincidence of the name, couples were identified who maintained romantic relationships in the spirit of knightly literature. However, this kind of information deserves more confidence.

It is also believed that the planet's first written Valentine's Day greeting dates back to 1415. He was sent by the Tower, who was in prison, one of the British aristocrats, and addressed to his own wife.

It is noteworthy that the approaches in different church traditions to this day are now different.... Although all regulatory christians unanimous in the fact that it does not mean "Valentine's Day" and should not be called in this way or in a similar way, in the RCC in 1969, when adjusting the calendar of the memory of the saints, the records about Valentine were removed. This was motivated by the fact that there is no information about the martyr himself, excluding his existence and the cutting off of his head with a sword. Such information was considered completely insufficient for recognition of any merit. Since 1969 because catholics February 14 is not officially celebrated as Valentine's Day, and if they are celebrated, then only purely optional.

But in orthodoxy everything is much more interesting. The widespread opinion that this is not a Russian holiday, and that “a truly Russian person” cannot celebrate it, even in a church way, is frankly wrong. Moreover, in the Russian Orthodox Church it is customary to remember the two most famous Valentines separately. The Roman presbyter is remembered on July 19 (according to the church calendar - July 6). And the bishop from Interamna, respectively - on August 12 (or July 30 according to the Julian tradition).

But all this concerns only, in fact, a narrow circle of Christian believers; from a certain moment that very holiday was significantly revised and put on a commercial basis. In the Middle Ages and in early modern times, it was celebrated extremely modestly - simply by sending notes and small souvenirs. And this behavior was typical only for a part of the British and French.

Everything began to change when the emigrants took root in the New World. At first, they simply printed notebooks with poems, so that even those not endowed with poetic talent could congratulate each other more effectively. But after commercial beginnings prevailed, and in the second half of the twentieth century, the celebration of Valentine's Day took on colossal proportions... True, the original spirit of the holiday has completely disappeared.

As everyone who is interested in this topic knows, and even not only them, in Russia there was a completely different holiday of similar content. However, their traditions did not mix; Moreover, in Russia we can only talk about the customs of celebrating Valentine's Day, because it has been celebrated for only about 20 years.

In the youth and student environment, it is customary to organize skits, give postcards and small gifts, confectionery. One of the attributes of the holiday was the gift of flowers. Otherwise, there are no established frameworks at all.

Abroad, the traditions of celebrating this day are more thorough. In the English tradition a similar day was celebrated in the 13th century. Right now in Great Britain give postcards, flowers in red. On the other side English Channel it is customary to sing serenades. And in Of Italy Sweets Day always falls on the same date, so gourmets are delighted. Danes could object to the British - they are inclined to believe that the most romantic thing is to send not red, but white flowers, and not even individual flowers, but whole herbaria.

V Spain it is quite common to send carrier pigeons with appropriate and necessarily handwritten messages. But in Of Japan only women and girls who give the so-called politeness chocolate can show their emotions on February 14. Then they look forward to exactly 30 days to see if traditional delicacies will come back on March 14th.

The celebration of Valentine's Day takes its greatest scope in United States... It was there, literally a year after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, that it was first celebrated en masse in the New World, and since then the scale has been steadily growing.

It is clear, of course, that the very logic of the holiday prompts to spend it with your beloved husband, girlfriend and so on - depending on who is the initiator. However, “just sitting at home” or even “taking a fancy walk in a restaurant” is hardly the best solution. This is all too formulaic and predictable. There are a number of ideas to make your holiday memorable without incurring unnecessary expenses. Quite a decent way to spend time - skating.

Even those who have no experience in skating experience extraordinary emotions. If for some reason this is impossible or the skating rink has already been visited, but you want something else, you can just go or go to those places where you have never been... If your own city is traveled far and wide, you can go at random to any neighboring settlement in the same region and wander there serenely. Or just go out to the river bank, into the park, into the forest.

Almost anywhere you can sculpt snowmen and play snowballs. When sculpting a figure, many people show their creativity to the maximum. For lovers of quieter leisure, we can recommend visiting cinemas, sometimes - viewing museum expositions and exhibitions (but only with full confidence that you will like it, of course). Nice after any walk launch a heart-shaped chinese lantern into the skya; however, even inveterate couch potatoes are unlikely to refuse to go up to the roof for this.

The hearts that have become the symbol of Valentine's Day can also be used without the slightest hesitation. So that it does not look like a duty compliment, you should carefully consider their location, write congratulations on your own, but not abuse this technique. It is useful to put candles or an incense lamp at home.... An excellent romantic mood will be created projectors "starry sky".

Not too often mentioned, but quite an adequate way of festive leisure - PHOTOSESSION... The choice of staged shots and ideas for them is practically unlimited. And you can always print especially successful pictures and decorate your home with them.

If you are planning to give gifts, then you can play the hot-cold game - this will create the necessary intrigue and flavor. The main thing is to think over everything so that it would be fun and more like a professional quest. In addition, you should not think about a too complicated game - any present should be at 4-6 steps, otherwise negative reactions may arise.

Here are some more atypical ideas:

• spending the whole day or most of it in the form of heroes of films, TV series, books;
• competitions in various ridiculous and ridiculous things;
• inviting a maximum of friends and acquaintances (many, oddly enough, overlook this opportunity);
• creating a page on the Internet dedicated to ... whom, decide for yourself (of course, you will have to tinker with the content, but the result is worth it);
• going to the circus.

In Islamic states, the celebration of Valentine's Day is almost universally prohibited. Therefore, celebrating it in Russia itself is easier and safer. But in France, it is customary to give a ripe tomato for this holiday. There is some more unexpected information:

• in Finland, February 14 is also the Day of Friendship, gifts are given to friends, colleagues, even relatives;
• in mid-February, detectives in many countries receive many applications to find anonymous senders of congratulations;
• 53% of those who did not receive a surprise on this day soon find themselves romantically alone;
• On February 14, at least 9 million people around the world are trying to please their pets;
• despite the variety of gifts and even specific hearts on the occasion, the absolute leadership still belongs to sweets and chocolate;
• the largest piece of chocolate by February 14 was made by Swiss pastry chefs in 2011;
• it was on Valentine's Day that our country switched to the Gregorian calendar, 28 years later the ENIAC computer was presented to the public (although it began to work for defense much earlier);
• the people of Wales on this day send wooden spoons decorated with hearts as a gift;
• 50% of "valentines" are purchased 6 days before the celebration.