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How did Valentine’s Day develop? It wasn’t until more than 200 years later that 14 February was proclaimed St Valentine’s Day. By this time Rome had become Christian and the Catholic Church was determined to stamp out any remaining paganism. A pagan fertility ritual was held in February each year and the Pope abolished this festival and proclaimed 14 February Saint Valentine’s Day, thus establishing this feast day on the Catholic Calendar of Saints. The poet Chaucer in the Middle Ages was the first to link St Valentine with romantic love. This was the beginning of the tradition of courtly love, a ritual of expressing love and admiration, usually in secret. This custom spread throughout Europe and stories grew about a High Court of Love where female judges would rule on issues related to love on 14 February each year. Historians believe that these meetings were in fact gatherings where people read love poetry and played games of flirtation.

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Several pink wax candles, gifts, love letters, 3D handmade red paper roses and hearts on white background. Love, Valentine’s, mother’s, women’s day, relations, romantic, wedding concept

Cupid Began as a Greek God. The chubby baby with wings and a bow and arrow that we call Cupid has been associated with Valentine’s Day for centuries. However, before he was renamed Cupid, he was known to the ancient Greeks as Eros, the god of love. Eros, the son of Greek goddess Aphrodite, would use two sets of arrows—one for love and another for hate—to play with the emotions of his targets. It wasn’t until stories of his mischief were told by Romans that he adopted the childlike appearance that we recognize today.

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Several pink wax candles, gifts, 3D handmade red paper roses and hearts on white background. Love, Valentine’s, mother’s, women’s day, relations, romantic, wedding concept

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.

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Several pink wax candles, gifts, 3D handmade red paper roses and hearts on white background. Love, Valentine’s, mother’s, women’s day, relations, romantic, wedding concept

‘Sweethearts’ Candies Started Out as Lozenges. The iconic chalky heart-shaped candies that have been passed out lovingly every Valentine’s Day started out as lozenges. According to the Food Business News, pharmacist and inventor Oliver Chase created a machine that would quickly create the lozenges before switching to using the machine to create candy—later known as Necco Wafers. Chase’s brother came up with the idea to print messages on the candy in 1866, and the candies got their heart shape in 1901, appealing specifically to Valentine’s Day sweethearts. In 2019, the Sweetheart brand of conversation hearts was suspended for a year as the candy’s new owner, Spangler Candy Co., needed time to make a supply of the hearts for Valentine’s.

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Love, Valentine’s, women’s day, relations, romantic template from white gift box and gift wrapped in craft paper, tied with twine with bows and labels with red hearts and candles on white background

Love, Valentine’s, women’s day, relations, romantic template from white gift box and gift wrapped in craft paper, tied with twine with bows and labels with red hearts and candles on white background

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Love, Valentine’s, women’s day, relations, romantic template from white gift box and gift wrapped in craft paper, tied with twine with bows and labels with red hearts, roses, candles white background

Love, Valentine’s, women’s day, relations, romantic template from white gift box and gift wrapped in craft paper, tied with twine with bows and labels with red hearts, roses, candles white background

Origins of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival in February While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270–others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

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Love, Valentine’s, women’s day, relations, romantic composition from white gift box and gift wrapped in craft paper, tied with twine with bows and labels with red hearts and candles white background

Love, Valentine’s, women’s day, relations, romantic composition from white gift box and gift wrapped in craft paper, tied with twine with bows and labels with red hearts and candles white background

How did Valentine’s Day start? Having a particular Valentine’s Day is a very old tradition, thought to have originated from a Roman festival. The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February — officially the start of their springtime. PenguinsGetty Images It’s thought that as part of the celebrations, boys drew names of girls from a box. They’d be boyfriend and girlfriend during the festival and sometimes they’d get married. Later on, the church wanted to turn this festival into a Christian celebration and decided to use it to remember St Valentine too. Gradually, St Valentine’s name started to be used by people to express their feelings to those they loved.

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Several pink wax candles and 3D handmade paper roses on white background. Love, Valentine’s, mother’s, women’s day, relations, romantic, wedding template

Letters Addressed to ‘Juliet’. Every year, thousands of romantics send letters addressed to Verona, Italy to “Juliet,” the subject of the timeless romantic tragedy, “Romeo and Juliet.” The city marks the location of the Shakespearean tale, and the letters that reach the city are dutifully answered by a team of volunteers from the Juliet Club. Each year, on Valentine’s Day, the club awards the «Cara Giulietta» («Dear Juliet») prize to the author of the most touching love letter.

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Several pink wax candles and handmade paper roses on white background. Love, Valentine’s, mother’s, women’s day, relations, romantic, wedding template

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Few handmade red paper roses and 3D hearts on white background. Love, Valentine’s, mother’s, women’s day, relations, romantic, wedding template

What is Valentine’s Day? St Valentine’s Day is an annual festival to celebrate romantic love, friendship and admiration. Every year on 14 February people celebrate this day by sending messages of love and affection to partners, family and friends. Couples send Valentine’s Day cards and flowers and spend special time together to honour their love for each other.

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