Happy Valentine’s Day, whatever that’s supposed to mean. These days, I take it to mean a gesture between people who are keen to remind each other they still love them. Well, good luck to people who feel the need to do that, particularly in public. Sellers of cards, chocolates, flowers and all kinds of assorted tat will be forever grateful to you. But who was St Valentine and why should we care?
I rather doubt that he – Saints are usually ‘hes’ – ever existed at all. Various explanations are given on the history.com website. I am more inclined to believe that the whole thing was misappropriated by – surprise, surprise – the Catholic Church. This excerpt from the aforementioned website is brilliant:
The Catholic Church recognises at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends 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, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realising 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. Still others insist that it was Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop, who was the true namesake of the holiday. He, too, was beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.
What could possibly be more romantic than that? Let’s hear it for Claudius II.
Not for the first time, I’m going to stick with the Pagan history version and Lupercalia in particular. After all, religious fanatics invented Christmas to replace a whole series of ancient Pagan festivals. Why wouldn’t they have wanted another one?
Valentine’s Day has changed over the years. It used to be more about people who weren’t in long term relationships expressing their love for each other. I thought that was far more sweet and romantic than today’s tawdry, commercialised effort.
Don’t get me wrong: it’s rather sweet people telling each other how much they love them. And it’s for everyone to decide whether they want to tell the world – or Facebook as we call it – that they’re the greatest romantics on the planet.
I’m not trying to poor ice cold water over love and romance. Whatever feels good, then do it. From my point of view, if I felt the need to go public with my romantic feelings, I fear I might have issues with insecurity and self-worth and in terms of my own relationship with my partner, I don’t. But I am not you and you are not me and if you like to tell the world about how you feel, then go ahead.
