As everyone knows, February is the month of romance. This month is associated with the celebration of Valentine's Day. But who exactly is Saint Valentine? Why is this month associated with love and romance? In this article we will look at the history of the holiday in two versions with colorful videos - a video on the topic.
The origin of this lover's day began back in 270 AD, with a quarrel between a good priest and a powerful ruler.
The reason for the holiday is a clergyman named Valentine, who died more than a thousand years ago. The history of Valentine's Day cannot be found in the archives.
Modern Valentine's Day celebrations are said to be derived from ancient Christian and Roman traditions. According to one legend, the holiday originated from the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration celebrated on February 14th.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there were at least three Christian saints named Valentine. While one was a priest in Rome, the other was a bishop in Terni. Nothing is known about the third Saint Valentine, except that he died in Africa. Surprisingly, all three were allegedly martyred on February 14th.
Most scholars believe that Saint Valentine was a priest who lived around 270 AD. in Rome and attracted the disfavor of the Roman Emperor Claudius II, who reigned at that time.
Valentine's Day Version #1
The story of Saint Valentine has two different versions - Protestant and Catholic. Both versions say that St. Valentine, as a bishop, performed secret wedding ceremonies for the soldiers of Claudius II, who banned marriage for young men. During the existence of Valentine, the golden era of the Roman Empire almost came to an end. The lack of quality administrators led to frequent civil wars. Taxation increased and trade fell on very bad times. The Roman Empire faced a crisis from the Gauls, Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongols from Northern Europe and Asia. The empire became too large to defend against external aggression and internal chaos. Naturally, more and more men were recruited as soldiers and officers to protect the people from being absorbed. When Claudius became emperor, he implied that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, thus not making them good soldiers. As a result, he issued a decree prohibiting marriages.
The ban on marriage came as a big shock to the Romans. But they did not dare to express their protest against the powerful emperor.
Meanwhile, Bishop Valentin also considered the decree to be unfair. He saw the trauma of young lovers. Valentin planned the marriages in secret. Whenever a young soldier thought of getting married, he came to Valentin, who subsequently married the newlyweds in a secret place. But such things cannot remain secret for long. It was just a question and eventually Claudius found out about it. Valentin was arrested.
While awaiting punishment in prison, Valentine was approached by the jailer, Asteria, who knew that Valentine had holy abilities, and one of them was to heal people. Asterius had a blind daughter, and knowing about Valentin’s superpowers, he asked to restore his daughter’s sight. Catholic legend says that Valentine did this through his strong faith.
When Claudius II met with Valentinus, he said that he was impressed by his merits and asked to take his side. However, Valentine did not agree with the emperor regarding the marriage ban. Valentine refused to recognize the Roman gods and even tried to convince the emperor of the consequences. This angered Claudius II, and he gave the order for Valentine's execution.
Meanwhile, Valentin and daughter Asteria became deep friends. The news of her friend's imminent death caused great grief for the young girl. Shortly before his execution, Valentine asked for ink and paper from his jailer, and signed a farewell letter to her “From your Valentine,” a phrase that has lived on ever since.
Version No. 2 of the history of the origin of St. Valentine's Day
According to another legend, Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his jailer during his imprisonment. However, this legend has not been given much significance by historians.
Thus, February 14 became the day of all lovers, and Valentine became its patron. With the advent of Christianity, the day became known as Valentine's Day.
By mid-century, Valentine had become so popular that he became one of the most popular saints in England and France. Despite attempts by the Christian Church to sanctify the holiday, Valentine's Day's association with romance and courtship continued into the Middle Ages. The holiday has evolved over the centuries. In the 18th century, gifts and exchange of cards self made on Valentine's Day have become common in England.
Today, Valentine's Day is one of the main holidays around the world. One of the first valentines was sent in 1415 AD by Charles, to his wife during his imprisonment in the Tower of London. This valentine is now kept in the British Museum.
Of course, doubts still remain regarding the actual identity of Valentine, but we know that he really existed because archaeologists recently excavated a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to St. Valentine.
And in conclusion, I really want to congratulate all lovers on Valentine's Day, and do not forget to do it to your loved one.
A colorful video about the history of the origin of Valentine's Day
Where and how did Valentine's Day come about? Being the most beloved holiday of young people, it has a centuries-old tradition and interesting story. However, lovers usually are not even interested in where and when the tradition associated with Valentines came from.
Valentine's Day, the history and traditions of which go back 18 centuries, dates back to Rome, more precisely, to the Lupercalia holiday. On this day, everyone left their affairs aside and indulged in fun and love. But not entirely erotic, but simply people trying to find a life partner or soul mate, which was often crowned with success. Usually, after this festival of eroticism, a huge number of new families appeared in Rome.
Which originates from ancient Rome, is associated with many legends and traditions. It was during the period of celebration in Rome that heralding the arrival of spring. In addition, the holiday was associated with fortune telling, and not only young people and girls believed mystical predictions, but also serious politicians and business people. The range of fortune telling was quite wide - from trade to amorous affairs. And it is noteworthy that this very Valentine’s Day is still considered today. History also tells us that around the same period of time, Panurgies were celebrated in Greece, neighboring Rome, that is, celebrations in honor of the forests and fields of Pan, who was always in love with some nymph. Just before the arrival of spring, the Roman venerable matrons made many sacrifices to the goddess of motherhood and marriage, Juno, who, by the way, in legends and myths was often associated with Faun, the Roman prototype of Pan. Where is Saint Valentine, the history of the holiday? It’s just that all the ancient holidays had some roots associated with paganism. Now let's move on to Christian legends about the origin of Valentine's Day.
So, around the 3rd century, Saint Valentine lived in the city of Ternia, located in the Roman state. The story associated with his personality is generally shrouded in darkness, but some points leave no doubt. So, his profession was one of the most noble, Valentin was a Christian priest. Endowed with all the qualities of virtue, the hero of Valentine's Day was known as a kind and honest person. The time in which Valentine lived is associated with the reign of Claudius the Second, who persecuted Christians and honored only his legionnaires and warriors. According to his decree, none of them had the right to start a family or get married, so as not to stop thinking about military glory and valor, as well as the good of the Roman Empire. And a young Christian good priest, whose name was Valentin, married the soldiers in secret from everyone, not paying attention to the emperor’s decree. And, according to legends, the noble young man reconciled quarreling lovers, helped win the hearts of girls and wrote letters for those who did not know the letters. However, this could not continue for long, and soon Valentin was arrested and executed.
Valentine's Day, the history of the holiday does not end there. According to other legends, the priest fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer and managed to cure his beloved thanks to his knowledge of medicine. According to another version, the girl herself fell in love with Valentin, but the one who gave her was unable to reciprocate her feelings and only on the night or morning before the execution our hero wrote her the first and last love letter. The touching story of the poor heroic priest was not forgotten, and soon he was named saints and dedicated a holiday to him.
And what does Valentines have to do with it? Despite the fact that they are probably called that after the letter Valentine wrote to his beloved. Initially, valentines were written secretly, with the left hand, so that the recipient would not guess who they were from. And always in the shape of a heart, a symbol of love. So, Valentine's Day has a sad history. However, thanks to the Roman priest, all lovers in the world have a day of love and happiness.
Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day, the most romantic holiday, is celebrated in most countries of the world on February 14 - on this day, for more than one and a half thousand years, people have declared their love to each other.
It is curious that the celebration of the memory of St. Valentine was originally established as a veneration of his martyrdom, without any connection with the patronage of lovers.
Gradually, Valentine's Day turned from a Catholic holiday into a secular one. Many people celebrate this holiday with pleasure, although it is not listed on the calendar among the official holidays.
Story
Valentine's Day has existed for more than the 15th century, but according to pagan traditions, the holidays of “Love” were popular back in ancient times.
So, in Ancient Rome, on February 15, every year they celebrated the festival of abundance - Lupercalia - in honor of the god Faun (Lupercus is one of his nicknames), the patron saint of herds. And the day before Lupercalia, the holiday of the Roman goddess of marriage, motherhood and women Juno and the god Pan was celebrated.
On this day, girls wrote love letters, which they placed in a huge urn, and then the men pulled out the letters. Then each man began to court the girl whose love letter he pulled out. In ancient Greece, this holiday was called Panurgia - ritual games in honor of the god Pan (in Roman mythology - Faun) - the patron saint of herds, forests, fields and their fertility. According to mythology, Pan is a merry fellow and a rake, plays the flute beautifully and forever pursues the nymphs with his love.
There is information that this day was also called the “Bird Wedding,” since it was believed that birds formed mating pairs in the second week of the second month of the year.
Saint Valentine
There are many legends associated with the name of St. Valentine. The most beautiful and romantic of them is the story of a Christian preacher who, in 269, married legionnaires of the Roman Empire with their lovers, despite the ban of Emperor Claudius II.
To preserve the military spirit, the emperor issued a decree prohibiting legionnaires from marrying, since it was believed that a married person was thinking about how to feed his family, and not about the good of the empire and military prowess.
Saint Valentine sympathized with the lovers and tried in every possible way to help them - he reconciled quarreling lovers, composed letters for them with declarations of love, gave flowers to young spouses and secretly married soldiers. Claudius II, having learned about this, ordered the priest to be thrown into prison, and soon signed a decree on his execution. The last days of St. Valentine’s life are also shrouded in an aura of romance.
According to legend, the blind daughter of a jailer fell in love with him, but Valentine, as a priest who had taken a vow of celibacy, could not respond to her feelings. However, on the night before his execution on February 13, he wrote her a touching letter, where he told her about his love. And the girl, having read the message after the execution of the priest, received her sight.
It is assumed that this is where the tradition of writing love notes - “Valentines” - on Valentine's Day originates.
According to the Catholic Church, Saint Valentine actually healed a blind girl - the daughter of the dignitary Asterius, who believed in Christ and was baptized. Claudius then ordered the execution of Valentine. That is, Valentine suffered for his faith, and therefore was canonized. There is an assumption that the Church introduced Valentine's Day as a counterweight to the popular pagan holiday of Love, which could not be eradicated with the advent of Christianity.
Around this time, a legend appeared to explain why St. Valentine patronizes lovers.
One way or another, two hundred years later Valentine was proclaimed a Saint, the patron saint of all lovers.
However, in 1969, as a result of the reform of worship, St. Valentine was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The basis for this was the fact that there is no information about this martyr, except for the name and information about beheading by the sword.
Valentine's card
The very first Valentine's card in the world is considered to be a note sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife from the Tower of London, where he was imprisoned in 1415.
Valentine cards were very popular in the 18th century, especially in England. They were exchanged as gifts. The lovers made cards from multi-colored paper and signed them with colorful ink. By the beginning of the 20th century, as printing technology improved, handwritten cards were replaced by printed ones. Today, on Valentine's Day, it is customary to give each other valentines in the form of hearts, with declarations of love, marriage proposals, or just jokes. People also like to hold weddings and get married on this day.
Traditions
In Europe, this holiday has been widely celebrated since the 13th century. In England, they used to carve wooden “love spoons” and give them to their loved ones. They were decorated with hearts, keys and keyholes, which symbolized that the path to the heart was open.
Louis XVI is considered to be the founder of the tradition of giving red roses to lovers, who presented such a bouquet to Marie Antoinette. According to legend, Aphrodite stepped on a bush of white roses and stained the roses with her blood, which is how red roses appeared.
According to ancient custom, in England and Scotland on the eve of the holiday dedicated to St. Valentine, young people put tickets with the names of young girls written on them in an urn. Then everyone took out one ticket.
The girl whose name was given young man, became his “Valentine” for the coming year, and he became her “Valentine”. This meant that a relationship arose between the young people for a year, similar to those that, according to the descriptions of medieval novels, arose between a knight and his “lady of the heart.”
According to legend, in Britain, on February 14, unmarried girls get up before sunrise, stand near the window and look at passing men - the first man they see is their betrothed. Italians call February 14 a sweet day and give sweets and candies. Valentine cards are sent by mail in a pink envelope without a return address. In romantic Denmark, they usually send dried white flowers to each other, and in Spain, sending a love message with a carrier pigeon is considered the height of passion.
In France, it is customary to give jewelry on Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day, the French also hold various romantic competitions. For example, the competition for the longest serenade - a love song - is very popular. And it was in France that the epistle-quatrain was first written.
In Japan, on Valentine's Day, which began to be celebrated in the 30s of the 20th century, it is customary to give men chocolate - usually in the form of a St. Valentine figurine. This is not so much a declaration of love as a sign of attention. The tradition of giving sweets on this day appeared at the suggestion of one large chocolate manufacturing company. In addition, the Japanese hold a competition for the loudest and brightest love message. Boys and girls climb onto the platform and shout from there about their love.
Valentine's Day has been celebrated in the United States since 1777. The tradition of giving gifts on this day grew stronger every year and for some it became a fairly successful business. At the beginning of the 19th century, Americans began the custom of giving marzipan figurines to their loved ones on this day. And marzipan in those days was considered a great luxury.
In the post-Soviet space, people first paid attention to Valentine's Day about two decades ago. But only last years celebrated en masse with valentines, congratulations and declarations of love.
Valentine's Day is also celebrated in Georgia, despite the fact that the country has its own Love Day, which is celebrated on April 15.
It is curious that Georgian Love Day was once introduced as an alternative to Valentine's Day, the tradition of celebrating which came to the newly independent states from Western countries. Romantic Georgians, like many other countries where they have their own alternative Day of Love, today celebrate both holidays, according to the principle, the more the better. But there are countries in the world where the Holiday of Love is taboo. First of all this Saudi Arabia, which is the only country in the world where this holiday is officially banned, and under pain of heavy fines.
Almost everyone will celebrate Valentine's Day. After all, this is a holiday of love that the whole world knows about. Although the traditions of Valentine's Day may differ in some countries, its meaning and main purpose are always the same. At first glance, it may seem that this story of Valentine's Day is completely uninteresting and reading this article is pointless. But this is not at all true, because the number of legends about the origin of the celebration and everything connected with them is quite surprising.
By the way, we have already written about how to make a gift with your own hands not on Valentine’s Day.
How Valentine's Day came to be, read further in our material.
If you don’t dig too hard, you can find literally 2-3 legends about the origin of Valentine’s Day. Despite the fact that they are the most common, not everyone has even heard of their existence. Read more about it.
Valentine's Day: history of the holiday
According to one of the ancient legends, biblical by the way, Valentine's Day appeared around the 5th century AD. But the events that served as the foundation of Valentine's Day happened even earlier.
In the 3rd century, Rome was ruled by Emperor Claudius, who, like his predecessors, sought to conquer the whole world. Of course, he didn’t have enough army for this, so he issued an order that will seem too cruel now.
Claudius forbade all priests from marrying young couples, and people under 20 from having children. At that time, this was often done even earlier. Despite all these prohibitions and the fear of execution, a young priest named Valentin secretly married young people at night. Of course, everything secret becomes clear at some point, and this case was no exception.
Valentin was caught and sentenced to death. He spent some time in prison, awaiting execution of the sentence. And during this time he managed to meet the young daughter of the prison guard, whose name was Yulia. The girl was blind, so she could not see her lover. Before the execution, the young priest left the girl a note on which was written “Your Valentine,” and it was thanks to this that the girl was healed and began to see again.
They decided to canonize Valentine only two hundred years later. in 496, Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 (the priest's birthday) as St. Valentine's Day.
According to another legend, Valentine's Day arose as a memory of the Roman patrician Valentin. Despite his high position, he was a secret Christian and converted all his servants to the new faith and sometimes performed weddings.
He was caught once, right during the trial. Of course, thanks to his status, Valentin could avoid execution, but the other two could not. Valentin tried to somehow reduce their suffering and began to send them hearts that symbolized Christian love. A blind girl was supposed to deliver them.
On the eve of his execution, Valentin managed to persuade the guards to take his life in exchange for those who were to be executed. The last thing he managed to do in life was to give the blind girl a letter that was consecrated. And thanks to him, the girl regained her sight.
See how Valentine's Day came to be
These are the two legends of the origin of Valentine's Day 2018. They are, of course, very similar and do not look like the truth. But many people believe it.
How Valentine's Day is celebrated around the world
If we already know the date and history of the holiday, then let’s understand a little about the traditions of the holiday, because different countries they are a little different.
Read what you can cook on Valentine's Day.
It must be said right away that Valentine’s Day appeared relatively recently in Ukraine, although it almost instantly became incredibly popular.
But in the rest of Europe, Valentine's Day has been celebrated since the 18th century.
Let's remember how Valentine's Day is celebrated in our country. Of course, there are a huge number of couples in love that you can meet in any restaurant, almost all stores have huge promotions, because you need to buy gifts for the holiday. Almost every child who studies at primary school carries there a pre-prepared valentine. And some even host holiday concerts.
But in other countries everything is a little different from the conventional Kyiv, Lviv and Odessa. And let's find out why.
In England, for example, valentines are sent not only to loved ones, but also to all relatives, friends, acquaintances and even pets. By the way, there are also quite interesting tradition for unmarried girls. It is believed that they should get up at dawn and look out the window. The first man they see will be their betrothed.
And of course, we can’t help but mention Valentine’s Day in Germany. After all, many have probably heard that February 14 is not celebrated there as Valentine’s Day, but as the Day of the Mentally Ill. And it is true. But only opponents of St. Valentine think so, and there are many times fewer of them than couples in love.
In France, only jewelry should be given on Valentine's Day.
But in Denmark, people send dried white flowers to each other.
But Saudi Arabia, as always, distinguished itself. There, Valentine's Day is completely prohibited, and if you celebrate it, you can get a rather large fine.
But the traditions of the holiday in Italy are quite different from other countries. There, Valentine's Day is called the day of sweets, and you yourself understand how it is celebrated.
Find out how the world celebrates Valentine's Day
As you can see, there is a lot of interesting things here and Valentine’s Day is indeed celebrated almost all over the world. Let's take a look at the history of its origins and find out how and when Valentine's Day actually appeared.
When did Valentine's Day begin?
If we have already talked about the legends of the holiday, because it is difficult to name biblical stories in any other way, now it’s time to remember the real historical facts that could serve as the foundation of St. Valentine’s Day.
Very often, the origin of Valentine's Day is associated with the ancient Roman holiday of Lupercalia. This celebration was celebrated in honor of the goddess of “feverish” love Juno Februata and the god Faun.
By the way, information about this holiday is quite contradictory. But historians insist that Lupercalia appeared due to the high mortality rate among children in ancient Rome. Then the city could simply die out. Then there were quite a lot of people who simply could not have children and they were considered cursed.
But the place where, according to legend, the she-wolf nursed Romulus and Remus was considered sacred. Therefore, once a year, most likely on February 14, grandiose festivities were held there, which were supposed to increase the birth rate in Rome. As a matter of fact, they succeeded in everything. That is why, when Christianity appeared, this holiday could not be canceled for a long time.
It is quite difficult to say exactly what date Lupercalia was celebrated. In 494, Pope Gelasius I tried to ban Lupercalia. But it was quite difficult to do this. Some historians say that this is why Valentine's Day was created. But all that can be said for sure is that Pope Gelasius only put an end to the celebration of Lupercalia in Rome.
Find out more in this video
If now the history of the appearance and origin of the celebration and when it will be approximately clear to us, then now we can talk a little about the symbols and legends of the holiday. After all, they are also quite interesting.
Valentine's Day: legends and symbols of the holiday
Well, if we have more or less figured out the historical factors, and we already roughly understand when and how this holiday appeared, not according to religious beliefs, but according to historical facts, then now you can learn a little about the legends of Valentine's Day.
There are actually only two legends here, which we have already told you about. The only difference is in the name and small nuances. They all appeared in the late Middle Ages in France and England.
Golden Legend tells us the story of Valentin, who was a field doctor and priest (there were many such people at that time). And Emperor Claudius, already familiar to us, decided that men who were not burdened by marriage and children fought many times better. Well, that’s why marriages were prohibited. But our hero, Valentin, being a very kind and believing person, secretly sanctified the marriage at night. Well, the rest of the story is already known, he was caught and killed. By the way, it was thanks to this legend that Pope Gelasius established Valentine's Day.
The second legend has no name, but the main character is also called Valentin. He lived in Rome during pagan times, but was secretly faithful to Christianity. He was quite famous and he had many servants, whom he also converted to the new faith. But one day this was noticed and his servants were sentenced to death. A high rank Valentina allowed him to avoid execution. Legend has it that he began sending small heart-shaped cards to the prison to cheer up his servants. But in the end, he managed to agree that he himself would be executed instead of the servants.
Valentines are the main symbols of the holiday. There are two legends about their origin. We have already told you the first: it was precisely those postcards that Valentin sent to his servants that were the first.
Read best congratulations Happy Valentine's Day.
And the second legend says that the first symbols of the holiday appeared when Lupercalia was celebrated in ancient Rome. The girls then wrote small notes and threw them into a special trash can, from where the men took them out and then ran to look for the girl. Nowadays, Valentine's Day is, of course, celebrated differently, but the similarities can be seen with the naked eye.
The history of Valentine's Day - who came up with the idea of celebrating Valentine's Day - the history of the holiday
The tradition of celebrating Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day, came to us from the West. On this day, lovers give each other gifts, tender cards - valentines, and, of course, confess their love. The history of this holiday is interesting.
History of Valentine's Day
First version
There is a wonderful legend about the origin of Valentine's Day. According to this legend, Claudius II, a Roman emperor who ruled in the third century AD, was an ardent opponent of marriage alliances because they prevented his legionaries from conquering countries. Therefore, the emperor issued a decree that prohibited marriage. Priest Valentin, contrary to the decree, still continued to secretly marry the lovers. For this he was thrown into prison, after which he was sentenced to death. The jailer's young daughter, seeing the priest and learning his story, fell in love with him. Valentin reciprocated her feelings. But since it was not possible to see each other, the lovers communicated through correspondence. On February 14, 270, the day of execution, the priest sent his last love note to his beloved, signed “From Valentine.”
Second version
According to another version of the legend of the origin of Valentine's Day, the head of the prison where Valentin was imprisoned for his “criminal” acts accidentally learned about the prisoner’s healing abilities, after which he brought his blind daughter Julia to Valentin. On the terrible day of the execution, Valentin wrote a farewell love note to Julia. Having received it, the girl discovered yellow saffron inside, and an unprecedented miracle happened - she received her sight.
Several early Christian martyr saints are known under the name Valentine. One of them is Valentine, a Roman priest who was executed around 269 AD. Another famous Saint Valentine was the Bishop of Interamna. This saint was famous for his miraculous healings. He was executed for converting the mayor's son to Christianity. Perhaps the legend refers to this particular saint. The romantic holiday of February 14 in memory of the saints was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496.
Already in 1969, after the introduction of a reform of worship, Saint Valentine was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church (along with other Roman saints, information about whose lives is contradictory and unreliable). On February 14, the Catholic Church honors the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius. A Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Presbyter Valentine of Rome on July 6 (19).
Festival of Lupercalia
According to one legend, the roots of Valentine's Day go back to pagan times. Many believe that the “predecessor” of this holiday was the so-called Lupercalia – a festival of abundance and eroticism, which was held in Ancient Rome in honor of the patron god of herds Faun (Luperca) and the goddess of “feverish” love Juno Februata on February 15.
Young girls wrote love notes to boys and put them in a special bowl for drawing lots. The man who took out this note was supposed to be courting the one who wrote it. Interestingly, on this day, men lashed women on the street with whips, which were made from the skin of a sacrificial goat. It was believed that this was supposed to contribute to greater fertility in women, so they were subjected to cruel blows with devotion.
In 494 AD. Pope Gelasius I "moved" the celebration of Lupercalia from February 15 to February 14. Thus, it coincided with St. Valentine's Day. However, the celebration of Lupercalia soon came to an end.
Mating season in birds
The celebration of Valentine's Day in February is also associated with the beginning of the mating season of birds. It has long been believed that entering into a marriage at this time will make him long and happy.
Pagan holiday “Ivan Kupala”
It is traditionally believed that Valentine's Day came to our country from the West. However, celebrations somewhat similar to the Roman Lupercalia have existed in Rus' since ancient times. So, since ancient times, we have celebrated the famous Kupala Day, which falls on July 7, or more precisely, on the night from the sixth to the seventh of July, or according to the old calendar, on the night from the twenty-third to the twenty-fourth of June. The holiday was dedicated to the summer solstice, as well as to the pagan Slavic god sun of Kupala. People celebrated the Sun, the maturity of summer, green mowing. Young people girded themselves with flower bands and put wreaths on their heads. They danced in circles and sang songs. Then, in connection with the adoption of Christianity in Rus', this pagan holiday was replaced by the veneration of the memory of John the Baptist, since the day of the Nativity of John the Baptist coincided with pagan holiday Bathed. The name “Ivan Kupala” was assigned to this holiday, as we know it today.
Memory of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom
On July 8 (June 25 according to the old calendar), the Orthodox Church honors the memory of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom - glorious patrons of love and family happiness.
However, on a large scale, February 14 as a celebration of Valentine's Day in the Old World, that is, in Europe, has been celebrated since the 13th century, while in America - since 1777. Valentine's Day is secular (not religious).
We congratulate you on Valentine's Day and wish you simple human happiness, whose name is love! Always give your loved ones charming smiles, and then life will be even brighter!
