Valentine so bright and gay!

by Charmaine FERNANDO

"The only thing more beautiful than two lovers is being one of them."

Every February, across the globe in developed countries, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? February has long been a month of romance. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains remnants of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and wheat spilt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began 15th of February, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture.

One legend notes that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, and he outlawed marriage for young men, his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first `valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with his jailor's daughter, who visited him during his confinement.

Pope Gelasius declared February 14th St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman `lottery' system for romantic pairing was counted as un-Christian and was outlawed later. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14th was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February, Valentine's Day, should be a day of romance.

Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, but the stories certainly emphasize St. Valentine's appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated by the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year as against an estimated 2.6 billion cards sent for Christmas. Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women.

Other than United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced Valentines Day greeting cards produced in America. She was known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colourful pictures.