History and True Meaning of St Valentine’s Day

History and True Meaning of St Valentine’s Day

Dayo Akinboro

St Valentine’s Day is approaching and many young people are still living in the misconception of what the day is actually meant for or represents. St Valentine’s Day is a day for lovers, it is a special day when lovers shower themselves with affection by exchanging love messages, simple gifts like flowers, cards, chocolate and candies. Some will like to make it romantic by gifting things like panties, perfume, lipsticks and so on. Lovers take themselves out to exotic places, club and party around during this period.

St Valentine’s day because of it origin should be a day not for lovers alone but a day for humanity, care and kindness towards the less privileged, especially the rejected, the lonely, and the sick at home or in the hospital, the widows, the prisoners, the orphans, vulnerable children and every other child around us. 

On February 14 around the year 278A.D, Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed.

During Claudius rule many young people were unwilling to join the military because of their strong attachment to their wives and families so, Claudius gave a decree which was unpopular that no young lovers should get married or get engaged.

Realizing the injustice of the decree Valentine defiled this decree as he continued wedding young lovers who are willing to get married secretly, the gist got to Claudius who ordered for Valentine arrest, he was eventually found guilty of disobeying the king’s order and sentenced by the Prefect of Rome to be beaten to death by club and have his head cut off from his body.

During his time in jail he healed the daughter of his jailer of blindness, he later became a friend with the girl and wrote a farewell letter to her before his execution which he signed with “From Your Valentine”.

On how his name became connected with romance

His name mingled with the Feast of Lupercalia, a pagan festival of love practiced in Ancient Rome. During the festival which was celebrated Feb 15, men stripped naked, grabbed goat- or dog-skin whips, and spanked young maidens in hopes of increasing their fertility, said classics professor Noel Lenski of the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius decided to put an end to the Feast of Lupercalia, and he declared that February 14 be celebrated as St Valentine’s Day.

What should Valentine be about ideally?

It should be a day married couples reflect on their journey so far renew and strengthen their bond with affectionate passion, parent and guidance should teach their children about God’s love, justice and humanity  and encourage them to always demonstrate the love of God to one another at all times.

This way we will change the erroneous perception some young people have about the St Valentine’s Day.

Now as it is, it a day teenagers are exposed to a lot of sexual abuses, young people attend different parties that are organized to perpetrate perversion in different forms.

Also, philanthropists and the well to do in the society, churches, mosques, NGOs and so on can capitalist on this day to visit the prisoners, the abandoned, the weak, the sick people at home and in the hospital, the widow and unprivileged people among us. Show them love by encouraging them and gifting them necessary thing that will make them feel better and accepted.