|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
St. Valentine’s Day
|
| |
Adults
celebrate St. Valentine’s
Day on February 14 by sending greeting cards
or gifts to express affection to a chosen partner. The
cards, known as valentines,
are generally sent anonymously and are often designed
with hearts to symbolize love. It is estimated that,
world-wide, approximately one billion valentine cards
are sent each year, making the day the second largest
card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas.
The Kids are not supposed
to participate in St. Valentine’s Day celebrations
since they are not grown up to choose their partner!
But they should know who is St. Valentine? It is not
an easy task to find an accurate answer because there
are more three St. Valentines in the History! All the
three are different saints named Valentine or Valentinus,
all of whom were martyred. |
| |
|
|
One
legend says
that Valentine was a priest.
He lived in 3rd century and served as a priest
in Rome. The then Emperor
Claudius II believed that the single men
are better soldiers than those who are residing
with wives and families and he outlawed marriage
for young men.
|
|
| |
|
Valentine,
realizing the injustice of the decree, defied
Claudius. Claudius had forbidden Christian marriages
and Christian conversions. Bishop
Valentine refused to accept the Roman
Gods and carried on his religious duties and
continued to perform marriages for young lovers
in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered,
he was imprisoned for disobedience. Claudius
ordered that he be put to death and he was executed
on the 14th day of February which may occurred
around 270 A.D.
|
| |
|
To read more,
log on to
|
| |
|
Other
story tells
that Valentine, a Christian priest, may have
been killed for attempting to help Christians
escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often
beaten and tortured.
Most popular legend
is that Valentine was a
young, handsome Christian devotee who
always closely associated with the villager’s
difficulties and problems. He helps needy, care
the poor, pray for the sick and he was also
a physician and would cure the sick. He helped
young lovers for their marriage, though it was
against the then Emperor Claudius who believed
that the single men are better soldiers than
those who are residing with wives and families
and he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine
became very popular shortly and the news reached
in the ear of the Emperor Claudius II. Claudius
wants to put an end of Valentine’s activities
and he was arrested and put into jail charging
Christian conversion. But he continued these
activities in jail secretly.
Once, the jailer’s young and blind daughter
happened to hear the preaching of Valentine
and she was very much impressed. They talk together,
sit together and pray together. She put out
her sorrow at his feet-the sorrow of a blind.
He depicted the greatness of God’s creations.
She saw the beauty of God’s creations,
mountains, rivers every thing on the earth,
sky and sea through his words. They fell in
love. Her irresistible thirst to see his face
or by their prayers or due to herbal medicine
given by him, a miracle happened, her blindness
cured, she gained her sight. She saw his face!
But the happiness last only for a short period!
|
| |
|
When Claudius came to know that Valentine’s
imprisonment had not changed enduring Christian
spirit in him and no way affected Valentine’s
popularity Claudius ordered him death punishment.
Valentine was executed on 14th February. However,
on the day of his death Valentine wrote a note
to his girlfriend, 'the jailer's daughter' and
signed it - 'From Your
Valentine'. This great man who died for
his beliefs, for his enduring love of the Christian
God, was chosen as the patron Saint of lovers.
There are many popular
folklores; few are copied as below:-
“…. While some believe that Valentine's
Day is celebrated in the middle of February
to commemorate the anniversary
of Valentine's death or burial. Others
claim that the Christian church may have decided
to celebrate Valentine's
feast day in the middle of February in
an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of
the pagan Lupercalia festival.
In ancient Rome, February was the official
beginning of spring and was considered
a time for purification. Sweeping them out and
then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called
spelt throughout their interiors ritually cleansed
houses. Lupercalia, which began at the ides
of February, February 15, was a fertility
festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god
of agriculture, as well as to the Roman
founders Romulus and Remus. …”
“…..St Valentine's Day was supposedly
started in the time of the Roman Empire. In
Ancient Rome, the date of February 14 was a
holiday to honor the Queen
of Roman Goddesses and Gods, Juno. Juno
was known as the Goddess of women and marriage.
The next day February 15 was the first day of
the Festival known as the Feast
of Lupercia.
On February 14 is was said that the young boys
and girls of the villages would write down the
names of every girl and place these names in
a jar of which each young man would have to
draw a name of a girl and this particular maiden
would be their partner for the duration of the
festival. Sometimes these parings would last
a year and end up in marriage’”
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
For Advertisements
Call Us at 09847525344
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright
© 2004 - 2022. kidswebindia.com
All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
|
Little Writers
