The Origin of Valentine's Day
Last Modified: 14/02/2017
This special day associated with love actually began with a bishop in Italy.
- 1February 14th is Saint Valentine's Day, isn't it?
- 2No, it's Saint Cyril and Methodius.
- 3But just who is Saint Valentine?
- 4According to tradition, he is one of the first bishops of Terni,...
- 5...who died as a martyr in the year 273 A.D. ...
- 6...under the reign of Emperor Claudius II.
- 7His name is linked to many legends,...
- 8...probably born in the Middle Ages in France and in England...
- 9...when the day began to be dedicated to lovers...
- 10...drawn from the stories of the life of Saint Valentine,...
- 11...decapitated precisely on February 14th for refusing to renounce Christianity...
- 12...and for having secretly celebrated the marriage of a young Christian and a pagan legionnaire,...
- 13...despite a prohibition by Claudius II.
- 14Even though it continues to be celebrated at a local level in several parishes,...
- 15...the feast of Saint Valentine was removed from the liturgical calendar in 1969,...
- 16...the decision having been made to retire the feast days of saints who originated in legend.
- 17Up until Vatican II,...
- 18...the Catholic Church dedicated no fewer than 11 days to Saint Valentine.
- 19This feast was imported by the English to the United States in the 19th century...
- 20...with the industrial scale production of little love notes called "valentines".
- 21The relics of Saint Valentine are actually conserved in the basilica in Terni consecrated to him.
- 22In this basilica, every year on the 14th of January,...
- 23...future spouses arrive to confirm their vows.
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