Valentine's Day

From New World Encyclopedia
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Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
1909 Valentine's card
Also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine
Observed by People in many countries;
Catholic Church
Anglican Communion

Lutheran Church

Significance Feast day of Saint Valentine; the celebration of love and affection
Date
  • February 14
    (fixed by the Catholic Church)
  • July 6
    (fixed by the Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • July 30
    (fixed by the Eastern Orthodox Church)
Observances Sending greeting cards and gifts, dating, church services



Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine,is celebrated annually on February 14. Originating as a Western Christian feast day honoring one or two early saints named Valentinus, Valentine's Day is recognized as a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and romantic love in many regions around the world.


Saint Valentine

Saint Valentine baptizing Saint Lucilla

Saint Valentine (Italian: San Valentino, Latin: Valentinus) was a widely recognized 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Christianity on February 14. From the High Middle Ages his Saints' Day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love.

There are two different Saints' Lives for a St Valentine on February 14, but they are probably the same man. Saint Valentine was a clergymanTemplate:Spndeither a priest or a bishopTemplate:Spndin the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians.[1] He was martyred and his body buried at a Christian cemetery on the Via Flaminia close to the Ponte Milvio to the north of Rome, on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine (Saint Valentine's Day) since 496 C.E.

Relics of him were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome, which "remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV".[2] His skull, crowned with flowers, is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome; other relics of him were taken to Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland, where they remain; this house of worship continues to be a popular place of pilgrimage, especially on Saint Valentine's Day, for those seeking love.[3][4] For Saint Valentine of Rome, along with Saint Valentine of Terni, "abstracts of the acts of the two saints were in nearly every church and monastery of Europe", according to Professor Jack B. Oruch of the University of Kansas.[5]

Saint Valentine is commemorated in the Anglican Communion[6] and the Lutheran Churches on February 14.[7] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, he is recognized on July 6; in addition, the Eastern Orthodox Church observes the feast of Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on July 30.[8][9] In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church removed his name from the General Roman Calendar, leaving his liturgical celebration to local calendars, though use of the pre-1970 liturgical calendar is also authorized under the conditions indicated in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of 2007.[10] The Roman Catholic Church continues to recognize him as a saint, listing him as such in the February 14 entry in the Roman Martyrology,[11] and authorizing liturgical veneration of him on February 14 in any place where that day is not devoted to some other obligatory celebration, in accordance with the rule that on such a day the Mass may be that of any saint listed in the Martyrology for that day.[12]

Identification

Saint Valentine does not occur in the earliest list of Roman martyrs, the Chronography of 354, although the patron of the Chronography's compilation was a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus.[13] However, it is found in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum,[14] which was compiled between 460 and 544 from earlier local sources. The feast of St. Valentine of February 14 was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among all those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God." As Gelasius implies, nothing was then known about his life.

The Catholic Encyclopedia[15] and other hagiographical sources[16] speak of three Saints Valentine that appear in connection with February 14. One was a Roman priest, another the bishop of Interamna (modern Terni, Italy) both buried along the Via Flaminia outside Rome, at different distances from the city. The third was said to be a saint who suffered on the same day with a number of companions in the Roman province of Africa, of whom nothing else is known.

Though the extant accounts of the martyrdoms of the first two listed saints are of a late date and contain legendary elements, a common nucleus of fact may underlie the two accounts and they may refer to a single person.[17] According to the official biography of the Diocese of Terni, Bishop Valentine was born and lived in Interamna and while on a temporary stay in Rome he was imprisoned, tortured, and martyred there on February 14, 269. His body was hastily buried at a nearby cemetery and a few nights later his disciples retrieved his body and returned him home.[18]

Τhe Roman Martyrology, the Catholic Church's official list of recognized saints, for February 14 gives only one Saint Valentine: a martyr who died on the Via Flaminia.[19]

Other saints with the same name

The name "Valentine" derived from valens (worthy, strong, powerful), was popular in Late Antiquity. About eleven other saints having the name Valentine are commemorated in the Roman Catholic Church.[20] Some Eastern Churches of the Western rite may provide still other different lists of Saint Valentines.[21] The Roman martyrology lists only seven who died on days other than February 14: a priest from Viterbo (November 3); Valentine of Passau, papal missionary bishop to Raetia, among first bishops of Passau, and later hermit in Zenoburg, near Mais, South Tyrol, Italy, where he died in 475 (January 7); a 5th-century priest and hermit (July 4); a Spanish hermit who died in about 715 (October 25); Valentine Berrio Ochoa, martyred in 1861 (November 24); and Valentine Jaunzarás Gómez, martyred in 1936 (September 18). It also lists a virgin, Saint Valentina, who was martyred in 308 (July 25) in Caesarea, Palestine.[22]

Hagiography and testimony

Saint Valentine of Terni oversees the construction of his basilica at Terni, from a 14th-century French manuscript (BN, Mss fr. 185)

The inconsistency in the identification of the saint is replicated in the various vitae that are ascribed to him.

A common hagiography describes Saint Valentine as a priest of Rome or as the former Bishop of Terni, an important town of Umbria, in central Italy. While under house arrest of Judge Asterius, and discussing his faith with him, Valentinus (the Latin version of his name) was discussing the validity of Jesus. The judge put Valentinus to the test and brought to him the judge's adopted blind daughter. If Valentinus succeeded in restoring the girl's sight, Asterius would do whatever he asked. Valentinus, praying to God, laid his hands on her eyes and the child's vision was restored.[23] Immediately humbled, the judge asked Valentinus what he should do. Valentinus replied that all of the idols around the judge's house should be broken, and that the judge should fast for three days and then undergo the Christian sacrament of baptism. The judge obeyed and, as a result, freed all the Christian inmates under his authority. The judge, his family, and his forty-four member household (family members and servants) were baptized.[24] Valentinus was later arrested again for continuing to evangelize and was sent to the prefect of Rome, to the emperor Claudius Gothicus (Claudius II) himself. Claudius took a liking to him until Valentinus tried to convince Claudius to embrace Christianity, whereupon Claudius refused and condemned Valentinus to death, commanding that Valentinus either renounce his faith or he would be beaten with clubs and beheaded. Valentinus refused and Claudius' command was executed outside the Flaminian Gate February 14, 269.[25]

File:Jean-Léon Gérôme - The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer - Walters 37113.jpg
Saint Valentine is said to have ministered to the faithful amidst the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.[1]

An embellishment to this account states that before his execution, Saint Valentine wrote a note to Asterius's daughter signed "from your Valentine", which is said to have "inspired today's romantic missives".[26]

The Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, compiled about 1260 and one of the most-read books of the High Middle Ages, gives sufficient details of the saints for each day of the liturgical year to inspire a homily on each occasion. The very brief vita of St Valentine states that he was executed for refusing to deny Christ by the order of the "Emperor Claudius"[27] in the year 269. Before his head was cut off, this Valentine restored sight and hearing to the daughter of his jailer. Jacobus makes a play with the etymology of "Valentine", "as containing valor".

A popularly ascribed hagiographical identity appears in the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493). Alongside a woodcut portrait of Valentine, the text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner. However, when Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor, he was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stones; when that failed to kill him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. Various dates are given for the martyrdom or martyrdoms: 269, 270, or 273.[28]

There are many other legends behind Saint Valentine. One is that in the 3rd century AD[citation needed] it is said that Valentine, who was a priest, defied the order of the emperor Claudius and secretly performed Christian weddings for couples, allowing the husbands involved to escape conscription. The legend claims that soldiers were sparse at this time so this was a big inconvenience to the emperor.[29] The account mentions that in order "to remind these men of their vows and God’s love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment", giving them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St. Valentine's Day.[30]

Another legend is that Valentine refused to sacrifice to pagan gods. Being imprisoned for this, Valentine gave his testimony in prison and through his prayers healed the jailer's daughter who was suffering from blindness. On the day of his execution, he left her a note that was signed, "Your Valentine".[26]

Churches named after Saint Valentine

File:St-Valentine-Kneeling-In-Supplication.jpg
St Valentine Kneeling in Supplication (David Teniers III, 1600s) – Valentine kneels to receive a rosary from the Virgin Mary

Saint Valentine was not exceptionally more venerated than other saints and it seems that in England no church was ever dedicated to him.[31] There are many churches containing the name of Valentine in other countries such as Italy.

A 5th- or 6th-century work called Passio Marii et Marthae made up a legend about Saint Valentine's Basilica being dedicated to Saint Valentine in Rome. A later Passio repeated the legend and added the adornment that Pope Julius I (357–352) had built the ancient basilica S. Valentini extra Portam on top of his sepulchre, in the Via Flaminia.[32] This church was really named after a 4th-century tribune called Valentino, who donated the land on which it is built.[32] It hosted the martyr's relics until the 13th century, when they were transferred to Santa Prassede, and the ancient basilica decayed.[33]

Saint Valentine's Church in Rome, built in 1960 for the needs of the Olympic Village, continues as a modern, well-visited parish church.


Associated Christian relics

The flower-crowned alleged skull of St. Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome.

St. Valentine's remains are deposited in St Anton's Church, Madrid, where they have lain since the late 1700s. They were a present from the Pope to King Carlos IV, who entrusted them to the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (Piarists). The relics have been displayed publicly since 1984, in a foundation open to the public at all times in order help people in need.

Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church, Dublin, also houses some relics of St Valentine. On 27 December 1835 the Very Reverend Father John Spratt, Master of Sacred Theology to the Carmelite order in Dublin, was sent the partial remains of St Valentine by Cardinal Carlo Odescalchi, under the auspices of Pope Gregory XVI. The relics and the accompanying letter from Cardinal Odescalchi have remained in the church ever since.[34] The remains, which include "a small vessel tinged with his blood", were sent as a token of esteem following an eloquent sermon Fr Spratt had delivered in Rome.[35] On Saint Valentine's Day in Ireland, many individuals who seek true love make a Christian pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, which is said to house relics of Saint Valentine of Rome; they pray at the shrine in hope of finding romance.[36] There lies a book in which foreigners and locals have written their prayer requests for love.[3]

Another relic was found in 2003 in Prague in Church of St Peter and Paul at Vyšehrad.[37]

A silver reliquary containing a fragment of St. Valentine's skull is found in the parish church of St. Mary's Assumption in Chełmno, Poland.[38][39]

Relics can also be found in Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos.[40]

Another set of relics can also be found in Savona, in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta.[41]

Alleged relics of St. Valentine also lie at the reliquary of Roquemaure, Gard, France, in the St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, in Balzan in Malta and also in Blessed John Duns Scotus' church in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, Scotland. There is also a gold reliquary bearing the words "Corpus St. Valentin, M" (Body of St. Valentine, Martyr) at Birmingham Oratory, UK, in one of the side altars in the main church.


Legends

J.C. Cooper, in The Dictionary of Christianity, writes that Saint Valentine was "a priest of Rome who was imprisoned for succouring persecuted Christians."[42] Contemporary records of Saint Valentine were most probably destroyed during this Diocletianic Persecution in the early 4th century.[43] In the 5th or 6th century, a work called Passio Marii et Marthae published a story of martyrdom for Saint Valentine of Rome, perhaps by borrowing tortures that happened to other saints, as was usual in the literature of that period. The same events are also found in Bede's Martyrology, which was compiled in the 8th century.[43][32] It states that Saint Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer Asterius. The jailer's daughter and his forty-six member household (family members and servants) came to believe in Jesus and were baptized.[44][43]

A later Passio repeated the legend, adding that Pope Julius I built a church over his sepulchre (it is a confusion with a 4th-century tribune called Valentino who donated land to build a church at a time when Julius was a Pope).[32] The legend was picked up as fact by later martyrologies, starting by Bede's martyrology in the 8th century.[32] It was repeated in the 13th century, in The Golden Legend.[45]

There is an additional embellishment to The Golden Legend, which according to Henry Ansgar Kelly, was added centuries later, and widely repeated.[46] On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he is supposed to have written the first "valentine" card himself, addressed to the daughter of his jailer Asterius, who was no longer blind, signing as "Your Valentine."[46] The expression "From your Valentine" was later adopted by modern Valentine letters.[47] This legend has been published by both American Greetings and The History Channel.[48]

Saint Valentine of Terni and his disciples

John Foxe, an English historian, as well as the Order of Carmelites, state that Saint Valentine was buried in the Church of Praxedes in Rome, located near the cemetery of Saint Hippolytus. This order says that according to legend, "Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship."[49][50]

Another embellishment suggests that Saint Valentine performed clandestine Christian weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry.[51] The Roman Emperor Claudius II supposedly forbade this in order to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers.[51][52] However, George Monger writes that this marriage ban was never issued and that Claudius II told his soldiers to take two or three women for themselves after his victory over the Goths.[53]

According to legend, in order "to remind these men of their vows and God's love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment", giving them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St. Valentine's Day.[30]

Saint Valentine supposedly wore a purple amethyst ring, customarily worn on the hands of Christian bishops with an image of Cupid engraved in it, a recognizable symbol associated with love that was legal under the Roman Empire;[52][54] Roman soldiers would recognize the ring and ask him to perform marriage for them.[52] Probably due to the association with Saint Valentine, amethyst has become the birthstone of February, which is thought to attract love.[55]

History of Valentine's Day

Shrine of St. Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland

There are numerous martyrdom stories associated with various Valentines connected to February 14,[56] including a written account of Saint Valentine of Rome's imprisonment for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire.[1] According to legend, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his judge,[57] and he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell before his execution.[58] The Feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496 to be celebrated on February 14 in honour of the Christian martyr, Saint Valentine of Rome, who died on that date in AD 269.[59][60]


Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine.[61] The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae).[62] Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who was martyred in 269 and was added to the calendar of saints by Pope Gelasius I in 496 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. The relics of Saint Valentine were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome, which "remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV".[63][64] The flower-crowned skull of Saint Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics are found at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.[65]

Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian in 273. He is buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location from Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino). Jack B. Oruch states that "abstracts of the acts of the two saints were in nearly every church and monastery of Europe."[66] The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.[67] Saint Valentine's head was preserved in the abbey of New Minster, Winchester, and venerated.[68]

February 14 is celebrated as St. Valentine's Day in various Christian denominations; it has, for example, the rank of 'commemoration' in the calendar of saints in the Anglican Communion.[6] In addition, the feast day of Saint Valentine is also given in the calendar of saints of the Lutheran Church.[7] However, in the 1969 revision of the Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feast day of Saint Valentine on February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar and relegated to particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason: "Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14."[69]

The feast day is still celebrated in Balzan (Malta) where relics of the saint are claimed to be found, and also throughout the world by Traditionalist Catholics who follow the older, pre-Second Vatican Council calendar.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, St. Valentine is recognized on July 6, in which Saint Valentine, the Roman presbyter, is honoured; in addition, the Eastern Orthodox Church observes the feast of Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on July 30.[70][71][72]


Saint Valentine of Rome was martyred on February 14 in 269 C.E.[59] The Feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 C.E. to be celebrated on February 14 in honor of the Christian martyr.[60]

Shrine of St. Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland
File:Rom, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Reliquien des Hl. Valentin von Terni.jpg
Relic of St. Valentine in the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome.

February 14 is Saint Valentine's Day in the Lutheran calendar of saints.[7] The Church of England had him in its pre-Reformation calendars, and restored his mention as bishop and martyr in its 1661–62 Book of Common Prayer, and most provinces of the Anglican Communion celebrate his feast.[73][74] The Roman Catholic Church includes him in its official list of saints, the Roman Martyrology. He was also in the General Roman Calendar for celebration as a simple feast until 1955, when Pope Pius XII reduced all such feasts to just a commemoration within another celebration. The 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar removed even this mention leaving it for inclusion only in local calendars such as that of Balzan, Malta. His commemoration was still in the 1962 Roman Missal and is thus observed also by those who, in the circumstances indicated in Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, use that edition. , July 6 is the date on which the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the Roman presbyter Valentine; on July 30 it observes the feast of the hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna.[8][9] Members of the Greek Orthodox Church named Valentinos (male) or Valentina (female) may observe their name day on the Western ecclesiastical calendar date of February 14.[75]


In the French fourteenth-century manuscript illumination from a Vies des Saints (illustration above), Saint Valentine, bishop of Terni, oversees the construction of his basilica at Terni; there is no suggestion here that the bishop was a patron of lovers.[76]

Connection with romantic love

English eighteenth-century antiquarians Alban Butler and Francis Douce, noting the obscurity of Saint Valentine's identity, suggested that Valentine's Day was created as an attempt to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia (mid-February in Rome), an archaic rite connected to fertility. However, this idea has been dismissed by other researchers.[77] Lupercalia, or any other Greco-Roman February holiday alleged to be devoted to fertility and love, has no recorded connection with Valentine's Day. The celebration of Saint Valentine did not have any romantic connotations until Chaucer's poetry about "Valentines" in the fourteenth century.[43]

Chaucer's love birds

File:Chaucer Hoccleve.gif
Geoffrey Chaucer by Thomas Hoccleve (1412)

The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer.[43] Chaucer wrote:

For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

[For this was on St. Valentine's Day,
when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.]

This poem was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia, which took place in May 1381.

Readers have uncritically assumed that Chaucer was referring to February 14 as Valentine's Day. Henry Ansgar Kelly has observed that Chaucer might have had in mind the feast day of St. Valentine of Genoa, an early bishop of Genoa who died around 307 C.E.; it was probably celebrated on May 3.[77] Jack B. Oruch notes that the date on which spring begins has changed since Chaucer's time because of the precession of the equinoxes and the introduction of the more accurate Gregorian calendar only in 1582. On the Julian calendar in use in Chaucer's time, February 14 would have fallen on the date now called February 23, a time when some birds have started mating and nesting in England.[43]

Three other authors who made poems about birds mating on St. Valentine's Day around the same years: Otton de Grandson from Savoy, John Gower from England, and a knight called Pardo from Valencia. Chaucer most probably predated all of them but, due to the difficulty of dating medieval works, it is not possible to ascertain which of the four first had the idea and influenced the others.[77]

Court of love

The earliest description of February 14 as an annual celebration of love appears in the Charter of the Court of Love. The charter, allegedly issued by Charles VI of France at Mantes-la-Jolie in 1400, describes lavish festivities to be attended every February 14 in Paris by several members of the royal court. The event was to include a feast, amorous song and poetry competitions, jousting, and dancing. For the competition, male guests were to bring a love song of their own composition, which was then judged by an all-female panel. [78]

Valentine poetry

The earliest surviving valentine is a fifteenth-century rondeau written by Charles, Duke of Orléans to his wife. At the time, the duke was being held in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415. The poem begins:

Je suis desja d'amour tanné

Ma tres doulce Valentinée...

[I am already sick of love

My very gentle Valentine...][79]

The earliest surviving valentines in English appear to be those in the Paston Letters, written in 1477 by Margery Brewes to her future husband John Paston, "my right well-beloved Valentine."[80]

Valentine's Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (1600–1601) Act IV, Scene 5:

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.

John Donne used the legend of the marriage of the birds as the starting point for his Epithalamion celebrating the marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England, and Frederick V, Elector Palatine, on Valentine's Day:

Hayle Bishop Valentine whose day this is

All the Ayre is thy Diocese
And all the chirping Queristers
And other birds ar thy parishioners
Thou marryest every yeare
The Lyrick Lark, and the graue whispering Doue,
The Sparrow that neglects his life for loue,
The houshold bird with the redd stomacher
Thou makst the Blackbird speede as soone,
As doth the Goldfinch, or the Halcyon
The Husband Cock lookes out and soone is spedd
And meets his wife, which brings her feather-bed.
This day more cheerfully than ever shine

This day which might inflame thy selfe old Valentine. [81]

The verse "Roses are red" echoes conventions traceable as far back as Edmund Spenser's epic The Faerie Queene (1590):

"She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew,
And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew."[82]

The modern cliché Valentine's Day poem can be found in the collection of English nursery rhymes Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784):

"The rose is red, the violet's blue,

The honey's sweet, and so are you.
Thou art my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,

And Fortune said it shou'd be you."[83]

Connection with spring

While the European folk traditions connected with Saint Valentine and St. Valentine's Day have become marginalized by the modern Anglo-American customs connecting the day with romantic love, there are some remaining associations connecting the saint with the advent of spring.

In Slovenia, Saint Valentine or Zdravko was one of the saints of spring, the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and pilgrims.[84] It is said that "Saint Valentine brings the keys to the roots," so that plants and flowers start to grow on this day. This day is celebrated as the day when the first work in the gardens, orchards, vineyards and in the fields commences. The bees also wake up from their winter sleep at this time, making it an important date for beekeepers. It is also said that birds propose to each other and marry on that day. However the people, in their love affairs, turned to the patron of love, Saint Anthony, whose day is celebrated on June 13.[84]

Recent Traditions

An English Victorian era Valentine card located in the Museum of London

Having become associated with romantic love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the fourteenth century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished, in eighteenth-century England it had grown into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). Valentine's Day symbols that continue to be used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid.

In 1797, a British publisher issued The Young Man's Valentine Writer, which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called "mechanical valentines."

Since the nineteenth century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early nineteenth century that they were assembled in factories. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1835, 60,000 Valentine cards were sent by post in the United Kingdom, despite postage being expensive.[85]

A reduction in postal rates following Sir Rowland Hill's postal reforms with the 1840 invention of the postage stamp (Penny Black) saw the number of Valentines posted increase, with 400,000 sent just one year after its invention, and ushered in the less personal but easier practice of mailing Valentines.[86] This made it possible for cards to be exchanged anonymously, and possibly accounts for the appearance of racy verse in an otherwise prudishly Victorian era.[87] Production increased in what Charles Dickens called "Cupid's Manufactory," with over 3,000 women employed in manufacturing.[86] The Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection at Manchester Metropolitan University includes 450 Valentine's Day cards dating from early nineteenth century Britain, printed by the major publishers of the day.[88] The collection appears in Seddon's book Victorian Valentines (1996).[89]

Flowers, such as red roses (pictured), are often sent on Valentine's Day

In the United States, the first mass-produced Valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland (1828–1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts.[90][91] Her father operated a large book and stationery store, but Howland took her inspiration from an English Valentine she had received from a business associate of her father.[92][93] Intrigued with the idea of making similar Valentines, Howland began her business by importing paper lace and floral decorations from England.[94] A writer in Graham's American Monthly observed in 1849, "Saint Valentine's Day ... is becoming, nay it has become, a national holyday."[95] The English practice of sending Valentine's cards was established enough to feature as a plot device in Elizabeth Gaskell's Mr. Harrison's Confessions (1851): "I burst in with my explanations: 'The valentine I know nothing about.' 'It is in your handwriting', said he coldly."[96] Since 2001, the Greeting Card Association has been giving an annual "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary".[91]

A gift box of chocolates, which is a common gift for Valentine's Day

In 1868, the British chocolate company Cadbury created Fancy Boxes – a decorated box of chocolates – in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day.[97] Boxes of filled chocolates quickly became associated with the holiday.[97] In the second half of the 20th century, the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manner of gifts, such as giving jewelry.

The rise of Internet popularity at the turn of the millennium is creating new traditions. Millions of people use, every year, digital means of creating and sending Valentine's Day greeting messages such as e-cards, love coupons or printable greeting cards. An estimated 15 million e-valentines were sent in 2010.[90] Valentine's Day is considered by some to be a Hallmark holiday due to its commercialization.[98]

Customs around the world

Although not a public holiday in any country, Saint Valentine's Day is an official feast day in several churches, including the Roman Catholic, the Anglican Communion[6] and the Lutheran Church.[99] In the modern era, liturgically, the Anglican Church has a service for St. Valentine's Day (the Feast of St. Valentine), which includes the optional rite of the renewal of marriage vows.[100]

Valentine's Day customs – sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”), offering confectionery and presenting flowers – having developed in early modern England and spread throughout the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century, spread to other countries in the later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Americas

Conversation hearts, candies with messages on them that are strongly associated with Valentine's Day.

In the United States, almost 200 million Valentine's Day cards are sent each year. School children commonly exchange cards with their classmates, adding several more hundreds of millions of cards.[101] "Sweethearts" or "Conversation hearts," candies with romantic messages, are also popular around Valentine's Day.

In most Latin American countries, Valentine's Day is known as Día de los Enamorados (day of lovers) or as Día del Amor y la Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship). It is also common to see people perform "acts of appreciation" for their friends. Some countries have a tradition called Amigo secreto ("Secret friend"), which is a game similar to the Christmas tradition of Secret Santa.[79]

In Brazil, the Dia dos Namorados ("Lovers' Day," or "Boyfriends'/Girlfriends' Day") is celebrated on June 12, probably because that is the day before Saint Anthony's day, known there as the marriage saint.[102] Single women traditionally perform popular rituals, called simpatias, in order to find a good husband or boyfriend. Couples exchange gifts, chocolates, cards, and flower bouquets.

Asia

Taipei 101 on Valentine's Day 2006

In Japan, Morozoff Ltd. introduced the holiday for the first time in 1936, when it ran an advertisement aimed at foreigners. Later, in 1953, it began promoting the giving of heart-shaped chocolates; other Japanese confectionery companies followed suit thereafter. Further campaigns during the 1960s popularized the custom.[103]

The custom that only women give chocolates to men may have originated from the translation error of a chocolate-company executive during the initial campaigns. To further complicate matters, women give different kinds of chocolates: Giri-choco ("obligation chocolates") are given to men in one's social circles and co-workers, while men whom the giver has romantic feelings for receive honmei-choco ("true feeling chocolate").[104]

In the 1980s, the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a successful campaign to make March 14 a "reply day," where men are expected to return the favor to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day, calling it White Day for the color of the chocolates being offered. A previous failed attempt to popularize this celebration had been done by a marshmallow manufacturer who wanted men to return marshmallows to women.[103]

In South Korea, women give chocolate to men on February 14, and men give non-chocolate candy to women on March 14 (White Day). On April 14 (Black Day), those who did not receive anything on February or March 14 go to a Chinese-Korean restaurant to eat black noodles (자장면 jajangmyeon) and lament their "single life."[105]

In Taiwan, Valentine's Day and White Day are both celebrated. However, the situation is the reverse of in Japan: Men give gifts to women on Valentine's Day, and women return them on White Day.

Europe

In the UK, just under half of the population spend money on Valentine's Day on cards, flowers, chocolates, and other gifts, with an estimated 25 million cards being sent. In Norfolk, England, a legendary character called 'Jack' Valentine still knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and trinkets for adults and children alike, just for fun.[106]

In 2016, Catholic Bishops of England and Wales established a novena prayer "to support single people seeking a spouse ahead of St Valentine's Day."[107]

On Saint Valentine's Day in Ireland, many individuals who seek true love make a Christian pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin. They pray at the shrine, which is said to house relics of Saint Valentine of Rome, in hope of finding romance.[108] There lies a book in which foreigners and locals have written their prayer requests for love.[109]

In France, a traditionally Catholic country, Valentine's Day is known simply as La Saint-Valentin (short for la fête de Saint Valentin). It is celebrated in much the same way as other western countries, except for one important difference: gifts are given only to romantic partners.[110]

In Italy, Saint Valentine's Keys are given to lovers "as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver's heart," as well as to children to ward off epilepsy (called Saint Valentine's Malady). To this day, a special ceremony is held on February 14 each year in the Oratorio di San Giorgio chapel in Monselice, Padua, where children are given small golden keys to ward off epilepsy.[111]

Islamic cultures

In Islamic countries the celebration of Valentine's Day has been harshly criticized as opposed to Islamic culture.

In 2011, the Iranian printing works owners' union issued a directive banning the printing and distribution of any goods promoting the holiday, including cards, gifts, and teddy bears.[112]

Islamic officials in West Malaysia warned Muslims against celebrating Valentine's Day, linking it with vice activities. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the celebration of romantic love was "not suitable" for Muslims. Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, head of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), which oversees the country's Islamic policies said that a fatwa (ruling) issued by the country's top clerics in 2005 noted that the day "is associated with elements of Christianity," and "we just cannot get involved with other religions" worshiping rituals. Jakim officials launched a publicity campaign called "Awas Jerat Valentine's Day" ("Mind the Valentine's Day Trap"), aimed at preventing Muslims from celebrating the day.[113]

The concept of Valentine's Day was introduced into Pakistan during the late 1990s with special TV and radio programs. The celebration quickly becoming popular among urban youth who gave flowers, especially red roses, and cards. In 2016, the local governing body of Peshwar officially banned the celebration of Valentine's Day in the city. The ban was also implemented in other cities such as Kohat by the local governments.[114] In 2017, the Islamabad High Court banned Valentine's Day celebrations in public places in Pakistan.[115]

In Saudi Arabia, in 2002 and 2008, religious police banned the sale of all Valentine's Day items, telling shop workers to remove any red items, because the day is considered a Christian holiday.[116] However, in 2017 a fatwa was issued permitting the celebration and such restrictions were lifted. The fatwa secretary of Dar Al-Ifta Al-Misriya (Egyptian Religious Edict House), Ahmed Mamdouh, said: “There is no harm to allocate one day to show love to one another.” [117]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (2013) Dictionary of Christianity (in English). Routledge. ISBN 9781134265534. . Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Cooper2013" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ (2001) The churches and catacombs of early Christian Rome: a comprehensive guide (in English). Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781902210575. “It remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede (Itinerary 3) during the pontificate of Nicholas IV (1288-92).” 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hecker, Jurgen, "Irish priests keep a candle for Saint Valentine", February 11, 2010. (written in English)
  4. ↑ Meera, Lester (2011). Sacred Travels. Adams Media. ISBN 978-1440525469. 
  5. ↑ (2013) Patrons and Patron Saints in Early Modern English Literature (in English). Routledge. ISBN 9781135132316. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Holy Days. Church of England (Anglican Communion) (2012). Retrieved October 27, 2012. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Anglican" defined multiple times with different content
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pfatteicher, Philip H. (August 1, 2008). New Book of Festivals and Commemorations: A Proposed Common Calendar of Saints. Fortress Press. ISBN 9780800621285. Retrieved October 27, 2012. “IO” 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 St. Valentine. pravmir.com.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Coptic Orthodox Church – From Where Valentine's Day Comes From {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}}
  10. ↑ Calendarium Romanum Libreria Editrice Vaticana (1969), p. 117
  11. ↑ Roman Martyrology, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001, p. 141
  12. ↑ General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 355
  13. ↑ Roger Pearse, The Chronography of 354 in "Early Church Fathers" online. Retrieved September 27, 2012
  14. ↑ "XVI kalendas Martii Interamnae Via Flaminia miliario ab Urbe Roma LXIII natale Valentini." In J. B. de Rossi, p. 20 (XVI KL. MAR.). See also M. Schoepflin, p. 40: "the original text".
  15. ↑ CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Valentine. newadvent.org.
  16. ↑ René Aigrain, Hagiographie: Ses sources, ses méthodes, son histoire, (Paris 1953, pp 268–69; Agostino S. Amore, "S. Valentino di Roma o di Terni?", Antonianum 41.(1966), pp 260–77.
  17. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 1983, p. 1423
  18. ↑ San Valentino: Biografia. {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}}. Diocese of Terni. 2009. English version, written probably after examining all previous sources.
  19. ↑ Martyrologium Romanum 2001, February 14, p. 141.
  20. ↑ Saints A to Z: V. Catholic Online.
  21. ↑ Latin saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012.
  22. ↑ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001. Index, p. 768; Saint Valentina okay finep. 390.
  23. ↑ (October 2017) Saint Valentine: Patron of lovers and epilepsy. Repertorio de Medicina y Cirugía 26 (4): 253–255.
  24. ↑ Castleden, Rodney, "The Book of Saints". 2006, p.28.
  25. ↑ St. Valentine. Catholic Online.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 St. Valentine, the Real Story (in English). CBN (25 September 2013).
  27. ↑ Under the circumstances, Emperor Claudius was a detail meant to enhance verisimilitude. Attempts to identify him with the only 3rd-century Claudius, Claudius Gothicus, who spent his brief reign (268–270) away from Rome winning his cognomen, are illusions in pursuit of a literary phantom: "No evidence outside several late saints' legends suggests that Claudius II reversed the policy of toleration established by the policy of his predecessor Gallienus", Jack Oruch states, in "St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February", Speculum 56.3 (July 1981), p 536, referencing William H. C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church (New York, 1967, p 326.
  28. ↑ Jack Oruch, "St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February", Speculum 56.3 (July 1981 pp 534–565) p 535.
  29. ↑ (1997) Heroes and Saints: More Stories of People Who Made a Difference (in English). Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664257026. 
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Frank Staff, The Valentine & Its Origins, 1969, Frederick A. Praeger.
  31. ↑ Henry Ansgar Kelly, in Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine. 1986, p. 62, says: As Thurston has noted, no English church is known to have been dedicated to St. Valentine (Thurston, Butler's Lives, 2:217). I should add that we have no record of a large number of churches in England.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 Ansgar, 1986, pp. 49–50
  33. ↑ Christian Hülsen, Chiese di Roma nel Medio Evo (Florence: Olschki, (On-line text).
  34. ↑ (2018) Patrick Leigh Fermor: Noble Encounters Between Budapest and Transylvania. Budapest–New York: Central European University Press. ISBN 9786155225642. 
  35. ↑ Shrine of St Valentine, Whitefriar Street Church, Irish Province of the Order of Carmelites {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}}
  36. ↑ Love-seekers show up at St. Valentine's resting place in Dublin. IrishCentral (February 10, 2017).
  37. ↑ Radio Praha – Ostatky sv.Valentýna jsou uloženy na pražském Vyšehradě. radio.cz.
  38. ↑ Chełmno – miasto zabytków i zakochanych. chelmno.pl.
  39. ↑ Skull bits of St. Valentine in Chelmno. Atlas Obscura.
  40. ↑ The Holy Relics of St. Valentine Lie on Lesbos Island. Greek Reporter.
  41. ↑ Savona: Guida ed Informazioni per visitare Savona.
  42. ↑ J.C. Cooper, Dictionary of Christianity, 2013, Routledge.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 43.4 43.5 Jack B. Oruch, St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February Speculum 56(3) (1981): 534–565. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  44. ↑ Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham (1894). A Dictionary of Miracles: Imitative, Realistic, and Dogmatic (in English). J. B. Lippincott & Co.. “St. Valentine, laying his hand upon her eyes, said in prayer, "O Thou who art the true Light, give light to this Thy servant." Instantly sight was restored to the blind child. Asterius and his wife, falling at the feet of Valentine, prayed that they might be admitted into the Christian fellowship; whereupon St. Valentine commanded them to break their idols, to fast for three days, to forgive their enemies, and to be baptized. Asterius and his wife did all the saint told them to do, and Valentine baptized them and all their household, to the number of forty-six in all. —Les Petits Bollandistes, vol. ii. pp. 510, 511.” 
  45. ↑ Legenda Aurea, "Saint Valentine" {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}}, catholic-forum.com.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Ansgar, 1986, p. 59. It originated in the 1797 edition of Kemmish's Annual, according to Frank Staff, The Valentine and Its Origins (London, 1969), p. 122. Ansgar was unable to corroborate this.
  47. ↑ Ruth Webb Lee, A History of Valentines, 1952, Studio Publications in association with Crowell.
  48. ↑ St. Valentine beheaded – Feb 14, 278. History (February 14, 2012). Archived from the original on March 16, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  49. ↑ John Foxe. Voices of the Martyrs. Bridge Logos Foundation. pg. 62.
  50. ↑ Shrine of St Valentine, Whitefriar Street Church {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}}
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 David James Harkness, Legends and Lore: Southerns Indians Flowers Holidays, vol. XL, No. 2, April 1961, University of Tennessee Newsletter (bimonthly), p. 15.
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 Max L. Christensen, Heroes and Saints: More Stories of People Who Made a Difference, 1997, Westminster John Knox Press. Chapter "The First Valentine", p. 25 Template:ISBN
  53. ↑ George Monger (April 9, 2013). Marriage Customs of the World: An Encyclopedia of Dating Customs and Wedding Traditions, Expanded Second Edition [2 Volumes]. ABC-CLIO, 665–671. ISBN 978-1-59884-664-5. 
  54. ↑ The Illustrated Library of the Natural Sciences, Volume 1, 1958, Simon and Schuster. p. 85 "The amethyst is the birthstone for February, and Saint Valentine is supposed to have worn an amethyst engraved with a figure of Cupid"
  55. ↑ Rayner W. Hesse (January 1, 2007). Jewelrymaking Through History: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 21. ISBN 978-0-313-33507-5. “It appears as the birthstone from February probably due to its association with Saint Valentine; therefore, amethyst has often been worn to attract love.” 
  56. ↑ Ansgar, 1986, Chaucer and the Cult of Saint valentine, pp. 46–58
  57. ↑ Ball, Ann (January 1, 1992). A Litany of Saints (in English). OSV. ISBN 9780879734602. “While in prison, he restored sight to the little blind daughter of his judge, Asterius, who thereupon was converted with all his family and suffered martyrdom with the saint.” 
  58. ↑ Guiley, Rosemary (2001). The Encyclopedia of Saints (in English). Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438130262. “On the morning of his execution, he supposedly sent a farewell message to the jailer's daughter, signed "from your Valentine." His body was buried on the Flaminian Way in Rome, and his relics were taken to the church of St. Praxedes.” 
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 (1981) Butler's Lives of the saints (in English). Burns & Oates. ISBN 9780860121121. 
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 (2007) Encyclopaedia of Great Festivals (in English). Shree Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 9788183291910. 
  61. ↑ Henry Ansgar Kelly, in Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine (Leiden: Brill) 1986, accounts for these and further local Saints Valentine (Ch. 6 "The Genoese Saint Valentine and the observances of May") in arguing that Chaucer had an established tradition in mind, and (pp. 79 ff.) linking the Valentine in question to Valentine, first bishop of Genoa, the only Saint Valentine honoured with a feast in springtime, the season indicated by Chaucer. Valentine of Genoa was treated by Jacobus of Verazze in his Chronicle of Genoa (Kelly p. 85).
  62. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of Saints, s.v. "Valentine": "The Acts of both are unreliable, and the Bollandists assert that these two Valentines were in fact one and the same."
  63. ↑ Matilda Webb, The Churches and Catacombs of Early Christian Rome, 2001, Sussex Academic Press.
  64. ↑ Saint Valentine's Day: Legend of the Saint. novareinna.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016.
  65. ↑ Meera, Lester (2011). Sacred Travels. Adams Media. ISBN 978-1440525469. 
  66. ↑ Alison Chapman. Patrons and Patron Saints in Early Modern English Literature. Routledge. pg. 122.
  67. ↑ Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Valentine. newadvent.org. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  68. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ansgar
  69. ↑ Calendarium Romanum ex Decreto Sacrosancti Œcumenici Concilii Vaticani II Instauratum Auctoritate Pauli PP. VI Promulgatum (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, MCMLXIX), p. 117.
  70. ↑ St. Valentine. pravmir.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013.
  71. ↑ Coptic Orthodox Church – From Where Valentine's Day Comes From {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}}
  72. ↑ Happy Valentine's Day History And Myths Behind It. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015.
  73. ↑ See February calendar on the here on the Church of England website.
  74. ↑ The Calendar (October 16, 2013).
  75. ↑ Glav. Greek name days of the year 2015 – month of celebration : February. Εορτολόγιο Ελληνικών Ονομάτων – Orthodox Greek Namedays.
  76. ↑ BN, Mss fr. 185. The book of Lives of the Saints, with illuminations by Richard de Montbaston and collaborators, was among the manuscripts that Cardinal Richelieu bequeathed to the King of France.
  77. ↑ 77.0 77.1 77.2 Henry Ansgar Kelly, Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine (Brill, 1997, ISBN 978-9004078499).
  78. ↑ Huw Grange, Some top tips for Valentine’s day … from Medieval lovers The Conversation, February 12, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  79. ↑ 79.0 79.1 Deborah A. Levine, Love Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Many Ways We Celebrate Love and Romance (Skyhorse, 2012, ISBN 978-1616083861).
  80. ↑ Norman Davis, The Paston Letters: A Selection in Modern Spelling (Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0199538379).
  81. ↑ John Donne, The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne (Modern Library, 2001, ISBN 978-0375757341).
  82. ↑ Spenser, The Faery Queene Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  83. ↑ The Valentine Gammer Gurton's Garland Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  84. ↑ 84.0 84.1 Paul Kliner, Sv. Valentin, prvi spomladin (St Valentin, First Spring) Gorenjski Glas, February 15, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  85. ↑ Valentine cards reveal Britain’s relationship history Manchester Metropolitan University, February 12, 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  86. ↑ 86.0 86.1 David Vincent, Literacy and Popular Culture: England 1750–1914 (Cambridge University Press, 1989, ISBN 978-0521334662).
  87. ↑ Charles Panati, Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things (Chartwell Books, 2016, ISBN 978-0785834373).
  88. ↑ MMU Special Collections – Victorian Ephemera Manchester Metropolitan University. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  89. ↑ Laura Seddon, Victorian Valentines: A Guide to the Laura Seddon Collection of Valentine Cards in Manchester Metropolitan University Library (Manchester Metropolitan University, 1996, ISBN 978-0901276544).
  90. ↑ 90.0 90.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named american
  91. ↑ 91.0 91.1 Eve Devereux (2006). Love & Romance Facts, Figures & Fun, illustrated, AAPPL Artists & Photographers Press. ISBN 1-904332-33-1. 
  92. ↑ Hobbies, Volume 52, Issues 7–12 p.18. Lightner Pub. Co., 1947
  93. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TRE
  94. ↑ Dean, Dorothy (1990) On the Collectible Trail p.90. Discovery Publications, 1990
  95. ↑ Quoted in Schmidt 1993:209.
  96. ↑ Gaskell, Elizabeth Cranford and Selected Short Stories p. 258. Wordsworth Editions, 2006.
  97. ↑ 97.0 97.1 Mintz, Sidney (2015). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. 
  98. ↑ Lenz, Kristin (February 10, 2012). On Valentine's Day, do we still need Hallmark?. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  99. ↑ Philip H. Pfatteicher, New Book of Festivals and Commemorations: A Proposed Common Calendar of Saints (Fortress Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0800621285).
  100. ↑ The Archbishops Council, New Patterns for Worship (Church House Publishing, 2012, ISBN 978-0715122440).
  101. ↑ John Roach, Day Facts: Gifts, History, and Love Science National Geographic, February 12, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  102. ↑ Dia dos Namorados SuaPesquisa.Com. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  103. ↑ 103.0 103.1 Katherine Rupp, Gift-Giving in Japan: Cash, Connections, Cosmologies (Stanford University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0804747042).
  104. ↑ Chris Yeager, Valentine's Day in Japan Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia (JASGP). Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  105. ↑ Brendan Pickering, Valentine’s Day in Korea Asia Society. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  106. ↑ Introducing Mr Jack Valentine! Visit Norwich, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  107. ↑ Madeleine TeahanBishops release novena for single Catholics ahead of St Valentine's Day The Catholic Herald, February 12, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  108. ↑ Love-seekers show up at St. Valentine's resting place in Dublin Irish Central, February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  109. ↑ Jurgen Hecker, Irish priests keep a candle for Saint Valentine The Telegraph, February 11, 2010. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  110. ↑ Camille Chevalier-Karfis, Joyeuse Saint Valentin ! Valentine’s day in France French Today, February 9, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  111. ↑ St Valentine Key, Italy Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  112. ↑ Iran shops banned from selling Valentine gifts AFP, Jan 2, 2011. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  113. ↑ Malaysia Warns Muslims of Valentine's Day Trap BBC News, February 13, 2011. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  114. ↑ Priya Joshi, Pakistan: Valentine's Day celebrations banned in Peshawar International Business Times, February 13, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  115. ↑ Awais Yousafzai, Islamabad High Court bans Valentine's day celebrations in public places Geo News, February 13, 2017. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  116. ↑ Cooling the ardour of Valentine's Day BBC News, February 3, 2002. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  117. ↑ Aisha Fareed, Un-forbidden love: Saudis enjoy second ‘religious police-free’ Valentine’s Day Arab News, February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 29, 2020.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Butler, Alban. Butler's Lives of the Saints. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003. ISBN 978-0860123408
  • Davis, Norman. The Paston Letters: A Selection in Modern Spelling. Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0199538379
  • Dean, Dorothy. On the Collectible Trail. Discovery Publications, 1990. ISBN 978-1878496003
  • Devereux, Eve. Love & Romance. Facts, Figures & Fun, 2006. ISBN 978-1904332336
  • Donne, John. The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne. Modern Library, 2001. ISBN 978-0375757341
  • Forbes, Bruce David. America's Favorite Holidays: Candid Histories. University of California Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0520284722
  • Goldstein Darra (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0199313396
  • Kelly, Henry Ansgar. Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine. Brill, 1997. ISBN 978-9004078499
  • Levine, Deborah A. Love Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Many Ways We Celebrate Love and Romance. Skyhorse, 2012. ISBN 978-1616083861
  • Panati, Charles. Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things. Chartwell Books, 2016. ISBN 978-0785834373
  • Pfatteicher, Philip H. New Book of Festivals and Commemorations: A Proposed Common Calendar of Saints. Fortress Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0800621285
  • Rupp, Katherine. Gift-Giving in Japan: Cash, Connections, Cosmologies. Stanford University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0804747042
  • Seddon, Laura. Victorian Valentines: A Guide to the Laura Seddon Collection of Valentine Cards in Manchester Metropolitan University Library. Manchester Metropolitan University, 1996. ISBN 978-0901276544
  • The Archbishops Council. New Patterns for Worship. Church House Publishing, 2012. ISBN 978-0715122440
  • Vincent, David. Literacy and Popular Culture: England 1750–1914. Cambridge University Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0521334662


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