Valentine's Day As We Know It
On February 14th, couples around the world will spoil, treat, or surprise each other with flowers, a card, chocolates, a romantic date night, or maybe even just a cosy night in. Perhaps some will find out that they have a secret admirer or send a card to the ones they admire! We all know Valentine’s Day to be about love, confessing one’s love for another, or even simply appreciating the relationship you’re currently in.
On the contrary, perhaps for some it is a reminder as to the growing awareness of ‘Singles Day’, albeit an unofficial holiday (so far…). Either way, Valentine’s Day is all about love and romance, right?
So, Where Does It Come From?
Established by Pope Gelasius in the year AD 496, Valentine’s Day continues to be celebrated around the world almost two thousand years later. This Christian feast day was put in place to honour one or two Christian martyrs by the name of Saint Valentine, put to death by Roman emperor Claudius II. It is unknown whether there were two exactly, although Christianity recognises at least three different saints by the name of Valentine.
Some believe Valentine’s Day is a more Christian version of the pagan celebration of Lupercalia – a festival that took place in which ancient romans participated in animal sacrifice, warning off spirits and infertility, and random matchmaking, in their own ancient Roman ways.
Whichever of these two possible origins is the actual one, we know that Valentine’s Day came from the violent happenings during Ancient Rome. Who knew a day culturally celebrated as something so sweet and romantic had such a dark history?
I suppose, you can’t spell ‘Romance’ without ‘Roman’!
I’ll see myself out…
That all said, we can’t deny that Valentine’s Day holds a significant place in culture, and many people around the world will be receiving a Valentine’s card. If you are planning on sending your one-and-only a high-quality card, feel free to check out our large selection here.
Whichever way you choose to spend Valentine’s Day, you now know where it came from!
Have a good one,
The Card Gallery Team
