Many people think that the feast of St.Valentin , as patron of lovers , is a recent invention of commercial chains , but is not like that .The tradition of celebrating this day comes from afar and commemorates the acts of Valentin at the time of the Roman Empire .Let's look at its history !
Saint Valentin: How did it all start?
There are many voices that say the Catholic Church established the feast of Saint Valentin for cover a pagan festival : Las Lupercales , which were celebrated on February 15.Luperco was the protector of shepherds and herds and also in this party was I also paid tribute to the wolf who nursed Romulo and Remo .The only certain thing is that Pope Gelasio I, in the year 498, established the festival and that in the year 1969 a new calendar of ecclesiastical festivities and the feast day of Saint Valentin, together with others of doubtful origin, cay of the calendar .The history of the Saint is based more on a legend strong> than in documents and evidence, but it is very pretty and worth remembering.
In the third century Rome ruled Emperor Claudius II , he was a fearsome man who ran the empire with hard hand.One of his decrees established the prohibition of marriage to his soldiers .It was based on the theory that if they did not establish family ties they were more thrown on the battlefield, because they did not think about that left behind. Valentin, who was a Christian presbyter , well known and appreciated throughout Rome, decided to ignore the decree and marry all the girls It is couples who requested it.Entered the emperor, ordered to arrest him and Valentin, before him, proclaimed his faith and the right of couples to marry .In year 270 he was martyred and executed , specifically a February 14 .
Fragment of the stained glass window of the Basilica of Saint Valentin in TerniIt was in the Middle Ages when the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine began as patron of love and was Geoffrey Chaucer , English poet (1343-1400) the first who mentioned of it in his work «Parlement of Foules».Chaucer explained in his poem that on Valentine's Day , humans and birds joined together for find a partner . "Because this was Valentine's Day, when each bird came to choose their partner"
«For this was on Saint Valentine's day , When every fowl comes there his mate to take, »
The start of the party in a commercial way is attributed to Esther A.Howland, which in 1843 ideo and commercialize, in Worcester ( Massachusetts), the popular romantic cards that are given on Valentine's Day.
And you, do you celebrate Valentine's Day or do you think it's a commercial party?
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