Cupid's Curious Case: Unveiling the Mysteries of Valentine's Day
By Saheed Sunday & Aishat Sanusi
It is February 14th, and lovers have once again set out to openly display their affection for their beloved ones. The streets are once again flooded with the colours red and white which, in their true sense, reflects more meaning than appears. Say the red, for instance, the colour of the blood that pumps life through each of the lovers’ hearts. And the white? A symbol for transparency and purity. Put together, the symbols flamboyantly display a connotative meaning of both love (which is associated with the heart) and purity (which is associated with the colour white).
Although most lovebirds do commemorate Valentine’s Day by showering their lovers with their tokens of love as best as they can, many people do not know how this day came by. The contemporary age, as it is, has even succeeded in chasing us back from the knowledge of it. It is not a fallacy to say that we are in an age where a lot of information is readily available but nobody wants to assess it. However, we at ZODML have decided to bring the history behind Valentine’s Day right to you. So, how did the popular celebration of love on February 14 come about? Let's see.
The truth is that nobody can verify the real story behind Saint Valentine’s Day. There are quite a lot of stories around the net that trail as far back as the period of the ancient Romans about how the day became a globally celebrated one. One of these stories is that sometime around the 3rd century in Rome, Saint Valentine who was a Catholic Priest went against the order of Emperor Claudius II. The emperor, in his own subjective view, had decided that single men were better soldiers at war than those men who had wives, so he outlawed marriage for all young men during the time. However, Saint Valentine who thought this was an injustice to love went against his order and continued with performing marriages for young lovers in secret. Although this got him killed, his act became a memorable one. But, this is only one of the many stories of how Valentine’s Day came about.
Different from the story of the Catholic Valentine (or not), there also exists another story of another Valentine who was rumoured to might have been killed for making an attempt to help Christians escape the harsh, bestial prisons they were locked in. They were said to be tortured and badly beaten therein.
Another legend even says Valentine’s Day actually came out of a love story that started in prison. According to the legend, Valentine — who was imprisoned — fell in love with a young lady who was rumoured to be his jailer’s daughter. Before he faced his death, he was said to have managed to send a letter to this young lady, with a signature that says ‘from your Valentine’. And we can still find the trails of this particular story till today wherein lovers send themselves heartfelt letters and end it with dear subscripts.
In all, this article has managed to draw up different stories as they relate to the history behind Valentine’s Day. It is ordinary to simply celebrate love in a day without knowing the history of the day. As the history of this day has now been presented to you, we hope you will shower as much love, care, affection and compassion to your loved ones the way Saint Valentine did in each of these stories.
Happy Valentine's Day!
