Holiday Valentine's Day catholic or orthodox. Orthodox and Catholics do not celebrate Valentine's Day

In recent years, a foreign holiday, St. Valentine's Day, has become popular in Russia. So who was Saint Valentine, and where did modern rites and traditions come from? How did this holiday come about?

Today, the Catholic Church recognizes three different martyr saints, called Valentine or Valentinus. Valentine's Day got its name back in the 7th century, although in essence it began to be celebrated much earlier. Now this day is celebrated in many countries, but the origin of the holiday is unknown to many.

According to one version, many years ago, a Christian priest named Valentine performed a wedding ceremony forbidden by the Roman emperor, for which he was executed on February 14. Since then, he has been considered the patron saint of lovers.

Another legend refers to the time when Rome was pagan. It tells how the Christian preacher Valentine was imprisoned for his faith and because he healed the jailer's daughter in front of everyone and gave her sight. He was sentenced to death, and on February 13, on the eve of his execution, he sent her a tender farewell letter.

The next legend combines the previous two. They say that Valentine, being the bishop of Terni, showed a special disposition to young lovers - he helped write letters with declarations of love, reconciled those who quarreled, gave flowers to young spouses. His arrest was allegedly caused by the fact that the Roman emperor Julius Claudius II (Emperor Claudius II) did not allow soldiers of the imperial legions to fall in love and marry, deciding that only a soldier who had neither wives nor children could be the best soldier, and Valentine secretly married legionnaires . Valentine defied the Emperor and continued to perform marriage rites among young people, keeping the fact of the marriage itself a secret. When this became known, the Emperor ordered the execution of the priest. According to the legend, Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" himself. While in prison, Valentine fell in love with a young girl, the daughter of his jailer, who brought him food and visited him throughout his imprisonment. Before his death, legend says, he wrote her a letter, which he signed "From your Valentine" - an expression that is still used in "valentines" in the West. From here and postcards - "valentines", and the holiday itself.

Having accepted a painful death, the abbot Valentine was canonized, in the 5th century AD, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day. His relics, preserved to this day, are kept in the Scottish city of Glasgow in the Roman Catholic Church of the blessed John Duns in one of the limits in a specially designated niche. On February 14, thousands of people of all ages come here and kneel begging St. Valentine for love.

Valentine's Day is celebrated to commemorate the anniversary of the Saint's death or the date of his funeral, which, according to historical records, took place around 270 AD. Since then, lovers have revered St. Valentine and consider him their intercessor.

More historically based version is the allegation that the Christian Church began celebrating Valentine's Day in mid-February in an attempt to " Christianize"celebrating the ancient pagan festival Luperci. It's no secret that in the same 5th century AD, Christmas was "assigned" to the place of Saturnalia. In ancient Rome, Luperci was the official beginning of spring and was considered the beginning of spiritual cleansing.

At this time, ritual cleaning was carried out in the houses: the houses were swept, then sprinkled with salt and wheat, called "spelt". The pagan holiday Luperci was dedicated to fertility and abundance and was celebrated by the pagans on February 15th.

At the beginning of the Luperci festival, pagans were to gather at the sacred cave where Romulus and Remus, when they were children, were rescued by a she-wolf called Lupa. On this day, all the young women wrote their names on pieces of parchment and threw them into a large vessel. Each of the city bachelors had to choose a piece of parchment with a name, thus becoming a couple for this woman for the current year. Such unions often ended in marriage.

In 498, when the pope declared Valentine's Day, the Roman pagan lottery system of romantic dates was abolished and considered anti-Christian and illegal. Later, in the Middle Ages, it was widely believed that on February 14, the bird chirping season began.

In memory of the letter written by Valentine to his beloved, on this day it is customary to give each other greeting cards - "valentines" - in the form of hearts, with best wishes, declarations of love, marriage proposals or just jokes. Written "valentines" appeared in the 15th century.

The oldest valentine in existence today was written by the Duke Charles of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London after his defeat at the Battle of Agincourt. The letter, which was written in 1415, can be seen today in the British Museum in London.

UK Valentine's Day began to celebrate in the seventeenth century. On the eve of St. Valentine's Day, the poorer English youth arranged something like a marriage lottery. Young people pulled out tickets called "valentines" with the names of possible marriage partners. It was a kind of divination that encouraged young people to get married.

The aristocracy did not condescend to such games, but competed in the high cost, sending the most expensive gift to his mistress on February 14, giving a gift to his wife on Valentine's Day was considered immoral.

In harsh and puritanical then America poor Saint Valentine was forgotten throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. And no wonder: the American Puritans, who do not recognize fun, have forbidden to celebrate even Christmas and Easter, not seeing in the Holy Scriptures permission to be lazy and feast these days. There were practically no national holidays. So popular among Americans today, Thanksgiving was considered a holiday of the Presbyterian Church, St. Patrick's Day was an Irish holiday, Independence Day promoted political debate, not fun feasts and games. Against this bleak background, in the 30s of the 19th century, the charming Valentine, the conqueror of hearts, routine and boredom, suddenly appeared with roses in his hands.

From foggy England, he was transported by publishers and sellers of books and lithographs, manufacturers of writing paper and stationery. They all hoped that Valentine would bring them income no less than their English counterparts.

By the middle of the eighteenth century, the exchange between friends and lovers of small tokens of love and inscribed gifts was widespread. By the end of the century, cards had replaced letters. Paper "valentines" were especially popular in England: they were made from colored paper and signed with colored ink, cut out or pierced with small pins in the form of lace, dyed through a stencil. At the beginning of the 19th century, mass production of "valentines" began.

By the 19th century, Valentine had become largely an impostor - the Church turned away from him, the state did not need him. The poor saint finally lost his divine status, and he was simply called Valentine. But this did not hurt him - with the spread of printing and the invention of postcards, Valentine's fame surpassed any expectations. Valentine cards contained a whole language of love: roses meant passion, daisies meant innocence, forget-me-nots swore fidelity, and the church spire hinted at marriage. Commerce became his patron. Almost a month before the holiday, newspapers placed advertisements for shops selling postcards in honor of the loving saint. In addition to sentimental and romantic postcards, there were also caricature ones, mocking all sorts of vices of the addressee - timidity, fear of marriage, arrogance or excessive choosiness. Both postcards were often sent anonymously, which created additional entertainment.

According to journalists of that time, cooks did not cook on Valentine's Day, maids did not serve, governesses did not teach, and all because they were waiting for mail. All this amused Charles Dickens, who in 1850, while working in the journal Household Words, wrote a note about the mail, which once a year turns out to be littered with letters depicting hearts and arrows in gold embossing, cupids drowning in paper roses, gentlemen in blue and nymphs in pink and transparent.

By the middle of the 19th century, America caught up and overtook England, when Valentine's Day became the most popular holiday in the New World. On this day, corseted American girls could relax: on Valentine's Day, they were also allowed to send cards, joke evilly and be proactive in relationships with men. Men, on the other hand, could show weakness - the shy were given a chance to find out by mail and in a playful way whether he would be accepted by the chosen one. It was carnival day, and even the most talented poets of that time refused to notice that feelings were expressed by stamped cupids, and verses on postcards shamelessly rhymed "Valentine / picture" and "love / blood". Soon, not only young lovers, but also friends and relatives began to send congratulations and gifts to each other, so that the income from the sale of valentines increased even more.

Modern lovers are increasingly congratulating each other with virtual "valentines". In addition to "valentines", on this day it is customary to give flowers to your loved ones, most often roses.

According to the American Greeting Card Association, it is estimated that up to one billion "valentines" are sent each year worldwide, excluding Eastern European countries, making Valentine's Day the second largest holiday after Christmas and New Year's in terms of the number of cards sent. Approximately 85% of all "valentines" are bought by women.

In Europe this day is celebrated "in all seriousness" - postcards, souvenirs, perfumes, sweets, jewelry in the form of scarlet hearts literally flood the shops. And of course, red roses are a symbol of love. And the faces of people who have thrown off the boring masks of respectability become open, joyful, more human. Every nation celebrates Valentine's Day in different ways. The British, for example, on this day send love messages not only to friends and acquaintances, but also to their pets.

Japanese but they turned out to be more original - they remade February 14 into a kind of “March 8 for men”, when the gifts are received mainly by the stronger sex. In some countries, unmarried women are given clothes by their lovers. If the girl accepted the gift, then she agrees to marry this man.

The holiday has come to Russia relatively recently: it has been celebrated most massively and openly since the early 1990s.

On January 15, 2003, the mayor's office and the bishop of the city of Terni handed over the shrine - a particle of the relics of St. Valentine - to Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. The initiative belongs to the rector of the cathedral in the Italian city of Terni, Bishop Vincenzo Paglia. According to him, this event is “a gift of brotherly love.”

The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Valentine on August 12. Also in Russia, Saints Peter and Fevronia have been considered the patrons of the family and marriage since ancient times, and more recently also the parents of Sergius of Radonezh - the Monk Cyril and Mary.

In conclusion, I would like to quote the words of the poet Vladimir Vysotsky:
"I will lay the fields for lovers,
let them sing in a dream and in reality,
I breathe - and, therefore, I love!
I love - and, therefore, I live.

Despite the fact that in the Orthodox Church there are several references to various saints under the name Valentine, Valentine's Day is not recognized as a Christian holiday in Orthodoxy.

According to the priests, there is no sin in celebrating this day if there is no spiritual worship of Valentine invented by the world.

You can safely call this day the holiday of all lovers, give flowers, hearts, sweets to loved ones and loved ones, say beautiful words, send love messages - fill the world with joy and love.

Saints named Valentine in Orthodoxy

Several times a year the Church remembers the holy martyrs with that name, but this has nothing to do with the feast of lovers. A beautiful holiday filled with beautiful attributes brings joy and love, but it is not in the Orthodox calendar.

Saint Valentine

The Orthodox Church honors Valentine of Rome, who was martyred during Christian persecution in the third century.
The second saint, also executed for faith in Christ, is mentioned in the Orthodox chronicle by Bishop Valentine, who served in the Italian city of Interamna. The time of his execution is February 14, 270.
About the third martyr Valentine, there is only one mention that he was executed in Carthage on the same day.

In church records, no mention was found of the romantic death or help to lovers of any of the listed martyrs.

Although, based on historical information about Nikolai Ugodnik, when data about the parents of a priest from Pinar, also Nikolay, were mistakenly entered into the biography of Nikolai Mirlikiysky, it can be assumed that history did not retain accurate information about St. Valentine.

The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the day of the Great Martyr Valentine, July 16 - Roman, August 12 - Bishop Interamna.

Russian patrons of lovers - Peter and Fevronia

As an alternative to St. Valentine's Day, the Russian Church offers the feast of Saints Peter and Fevronia, who are considered in Orthodoxy to be the guardian angels of family happiness. Because of his beloved Fevronia, Peter renounced power, being a prince, for which, together with his beloved, he was sent into exile.

Ordinary people raised confusion in defense of their beloved prince and his love for a simple girl. Under pressure from the people, the boyars were forced to return Peter and Fevronia to the throne, who honestly ruled and lived in happiness and harmony.

Read about saints:

Prayers to Saints Peter and Fevronia for family well-being

As old age approached, the holy couple took tonsure in various monasteries, left in the memory of the Church by David and Euphrosyne.

The Lord gave a miracle after the death of a couple in love, each of them died in his monastery, but it happened at the same time, at the same time. The miracle was that the bodies of the spouses, lying in different places, were together in the morning.

Since 2008, Russia has its own Russian holiday of Love and family happiness, it is celebrated on July 8 in honor of the memory of Peter and Fevronia.

Beautiful legends about the patron saint of lovers

The first legend ascribes the patronage of loving couples to Saint Valentine of Interan, who lived in Italy.

Claudius II, ruling in Germany, gathered his army from unmarried men, but there were very few of them, because everyone was in a hurry to get married. Then Claudius issued a decree forbidding guys to marry before serving in the army.

Secretly from Claudius the Second, the interan priest crowned loving hearts, which earned the indignation of the emperor, it was decided to execute him.

In addition to church activities, Bishop Valentine was involved in the treatment of parishioners, among them was the blind girl Yulia, the daughter of a prison guard.

Through him, the bishop, being in prison, gave the girl a note with a declaration of love and an ointment with saffron, from which she received her sight.

Valentine was executed exactly on February 14th.

The discrepancy between this legend and reality is that in the third century there was no wedding ceremony yet.

Even if the young received a blessing according to the Christian rite, this did not matter to the emperor Claudius. The third century is symbolized by the most cruel reprisals against the followers of Christ.

Roman Emperor Claudius

According to another version, the roots of the holiday of St. Valentine are pagan. The Church could not come to terms with the "wild" ritual of sacrificing a goat and a dog on the day of veneration of the brothers Romulus and Remus, who, according to legend, are the founders of Rome.

Belts were cut from the skin of slain animals, with which naked young men ran around the city and whipped all passers-by. It was believed that if someone touches the whip, he will recover, and the woman will be able to give birth, being infertile.

According to another legend, beating pregnant women with a whip of sacrificial animals guaranteed the birth of a healthy child, because infant mortality in ancient Rome was too high.

Februa - the name of the belts, from this came February.

To get rid of the pagan worship of Romulus and Remus, the priests came up with the day of lovers, known as the feast of St. Valentine.

According to the third legend, a young priest, Valentine, lived in the Italian city of Terni, who helped people and showed special love to children. He spent a lot of time with the children, treated them and taught them the basics of Christianity, but the Romans found out about this and arrested the young man.

The children missed their mentor very much, and every day they threw notes to him in the prison window with words of love and respect. These papers were read by the prison guard. The old man had a blind daughter, whom he secretly brought to the priest for a prayer of healing, but the girl did not see clearly, and the young priest fell in love with her.

Before his death, the young man sent Julia, that was the name of the watchman's daughter, a note in the form of a heart and put a flower - a yellow crocus or saffron.

The girl unfolded the note, sniffed the flower and regained her sight. After that, she read "Your Valentine" on the note. Julia was the first to call the Terni priest a saint.

All the legends belong to the third century and have been carried through the centuries by people who so desire happiness and love.

Humanity will never establish the truth, but legends are born in the past and most likely Valentine lived in the world, who died in the name of love:

to God;
to a beautiful girl;
to all people.

In the fifth century, the Pope announced February 14 as St. Valentine's Day, which eventually turned into Valentine's Day.

Traditions of celebrating Valentine's Day in different countries

The beginning of the heyday of this holiday can be considered the 19th century, at the same time, businessmen around the world discovered the opportunity to make money on beautiful messages. This is how postcards, perfumes with messages, sweets with the image of a heart, toys and much more appeared. All these things began to be called valentines.

About other traditions:

In the United States, boys and girls held parties at which couples were formed by a simple choice. In the basket were the names of those present, written on pieces of paper in the form of hearts. Pulling out a valentine, the guy chose a girl for himself and gave her marzipan.

Japan is famous for the various forms of chocolate that lovers give to each other on this day. This is the only day of the year when a girl can be the first to declare her love.

Unmarried English women look out in the morning for a bird that will bring marriage. A robin foreshadowed a sailor, a sparrow - a poor man, but a meeting with a goldfinch meant a rich husband.

The French remain French, their valentines are hidden in jewelry.

Many lovers believe that a wedding played on this day will guarantee a happy life. Deep delusion!

Happiness, peace and tranquility in the house will be given by God if the family lives according to His precepts. Only common prayer unites and makes a strong family.

Video about what the church thinks about Valentine's Day.

It is believed that Valentine's Day has existed for more than 16 centuries, but the holidays of Love are known from even earlier times - from the time of ancient pagan cultures. For example, the Romans in mid-February celebrated a festival of eroticism called Lupercalia, in honor of the goddess of love, Juno Februata.

Valentine's Day - the holiday of lovers - has been celebrated on February 14 in Europe since the 13th century, in the USA since 1777, in Russia since the early 1990s. But why is it still a holiday for lovers? There are many beautiful legends about this.

The holiday of St. Valentine has a specific "culprit" - the Christian priest Valentine.

This story dates back to about 269, at that time Emperor Claudius II ruled the Roman Empire. The warring Roman army experienced an acute shortage of soldiers for military campaigns, and the commander was convinced that the main enemy of his "Napoleonic" plans was marriage, because a married legionnaire thinks much less about the glory of the empire than about how to feed his family. And, in order to preserve the military spirit in his soldiers, the emperor issued a decree forbidding the legionnaires to marry.

But the soldiers did not become less in love because of this. And to their happiness, there was a man who, not fearing the imperial wrath, began to secretly marry the legionnaires with their lovers. It was a priest named Valentine from the Roman city of Terni (Valentine of Terni). Apparently, he was a real romantic, since his favorite pastimes were reconciling those who quarreled, helping to write love letters and giving flowers to the subjects of their passion at the request of the legionnaires.

Of course, as soon as the emperor found out about this, he decided to stop his "criminal activities". Valentine was sentenced to death. The tragedy of the situation was also in the fact that Valentine himself was in love with the jailer's daughter, whom he miraculously healed from blindness.

The day before the execution, the priest wrote a farewell letter to the girl, where he spoke about his love, and signed it “Your Valentine”. It was read after he was executed. The date of the execution coincided with a Roman celebration in honor of Juno, the goddess of love. Since then, every year on February 14, people remembered Valentine and arranged a holiday for all lovers.

Subsequently, as a Christian martyr who suffered for his faith, Valentine was canonized by the Catholic Church. And in 496, Pope Gelasius (Pope Gelasius I) declared February 14 Valentine's Day.

Since 1969, as a result of the reform of worship, Saint Valentine was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church (along with other Roman saints, information about whose life is contradictory and unreliable). However, even before 1969, the church did not approve and did not support the traditions of celebrating this day.

Whether it was so or otherwise, but, apparently, it was from there that it was customary to write love notes on Valentine's Day - “valentines”. And on this holiday they like to arrange weddings and get married. It is believed that this will be the key to eternal love.

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 confessed their love to each other.

It is curious that initially the celebration of the memory of St. Valentine was established as a veneration of his martyrdom, without any connection with the patronage of lovers.

Gradually, St. 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 official holidays.

Story

St. Valentine's Day has existed for more than 15 centuries, but according to pagan traditions, the "Love" holidays were popular even in ancient times.

So, in Ancient Rome on February 15 every year they celebrated the feast of abundance - Lupercalium - in honor of the god Faun (Luperk is one of his nicknames), the patron saint of herds. And the day before the Lupercalia, the feast of the Roman goddess of marriage, motherhood and women Juno and the god Pan was celebrated.

On this day, the girls wrote love letters, which were placed in a huge urn, and then the men pulled the letters. Then each man began to court the girl whose love letter he pulled out.

In ancient Greece, this holiday was called Panurgy - 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 always pursues the nymphs with his love.

Information has been preserved that this day was also called the "Bird's wedding", since it was believed that birds form mating pairs precisely in the second week of the second month of the year.

Saint Valentine

There are many legends associated with the name of Saint 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 prohibition 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 man was thinking about how to feed his family, and not about the good of the empire and military prowess.

Romantic event "Knight of Love"

Saint Valentine sympathized with the lovers and tried to help them in every possible way - 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. A halo of romance is shrouded in the last days of the life of St. Valentine.

According to legend, the blind daughter of the jailer fell in love with him, but Valentine, as a priest who had taken a vow of celibacy, could not return her feelings. However, on the night before the execution on February 13, he wrote a touching letter to her, where he spoke about his love. And the girl, having read the message after the execution of the priest, received her sight.

It is assumed that it is from there that the tradition of writing love notes on Valentine's Day - "valentines" originates.

According to the Catholic Church, Saint Valentine really healed a blind girl - the daughter of a dignitary Asterius, who believed in Christ and was baptized. Claudius then ordered the execution of Valentine. That is, Valentine suffered for the faith, and therefore was canonized as a saint.

There is speculation 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 the same time, a legend appears 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 reason for this was the fact that there is no information about this martyr, except for the name and information about beheading with a sword.

valentine

The very first valentine greeting 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.

Participants of the flash mob "1000 hearts"

Valentine cards were very popular in the 18th century, especially in England. They were exchanged as gifts. Lovers made postcards from multi-colored paper and signed with colorful ink. By the beginning of the 20th century, with the improvement of printing technology, handwritten postcards 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. On this day, they also like to arrange weddings and get married.

Traditions

In Europe, this holiday has been widely celebrated since the 13th century. In England, they used to carve wooden "spoons of love" and give them to their loved ones. They were decorated with hearts, keys and keyholes, which symbolized that the path to the heart is open.

The founder of the tradition of giving red roses to loved ones is considered Louis XVI, 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, so red roses appeared.

According to an ancient custom, in England and Scotland on the eve of the holiday dedicated to St. Valentine, young people put tickets in the urn with the names of young girls written on them. Then each took out one ticket.

The girl, whose name went to the young man, became his “Valentina” for the coming year, and he became her “Valentine”. This meant that for a year relationships arose between young people, similar to those that, according to the descriptions of medieval novels, arose between a knight and his "lady of the heart."

Electric boots for lovers installed in Sokolniki Park

According to legend, in Britain, unmarried girls on February 14 get up before sunrise, stand near the window and look at the passing men - the first man they see is their betrothed.

Italians call February 14 sweet day and give sweets and sweets. Valentines are mailed in a pink envelope with no return address. In romantic Denmark, dried white flowers are usually sent to each other, and in Spain it is considered the height of passion to send a love message with a carrier pigeon.

In France, it is customary to give jewelry on Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day, the French also hold various romantic contests. For example, the competition for the longest serenade - a song about love - is very popular. And it was in France that the first quatrain message was written.

Valery Melnikov

In Japan, on Valentine's Day, which began to be celebrated in the 30s of the XX century, it is customary to give men chocolate - usually in the form of a Valentine's 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 has grown stronger every year and for some has become a fairly successful business. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Americans had a custom to give marzipan figurines to their loved ones on this day. And marzipans in those days were considered a great luxury.

In the post-Soviet space, people first paid attention to Valentine's Day about two decades ago. And only recent years are celebrated massively 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 15th.

It is curious that the Georgian Day of Love was once introduced as an alternative to St. Valentine's Day, a tradition to celebrate which came to the newly independent states from Western countries. Romantic Georgians, like many other countries that 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 has been tabooed. First of all, this is Saudi Arabia, which is the only country in the world where this holiday is officially banned, moreover, under pain of heavy fines.

The material was prepared on the basis of open sources.

Those who think that February 14 is the day of all Valentines are mistaken. February 14 is international day of love and romance. It just so happened that the main symbol of this holiday is considered to be the heart or, in the common people, “valentine”. And the history of the holiday goes back to the 3rd century AD in the capital city of Rome. Emperor Claudius II issued an order that today we would call "no-no", to be more precise, "young people fit for military service did not have the right to marry, as this adversely affected the general morale of the army." But love is good, which, as in any normal fairy tale, necessarily conquers evil.

And this time she won. A priest named Valentine went against the emperor and continued wedding ceremonies for lovers, for which he was sentenced to death and became a Saint posthumously.

Valentine's Day is a Catholic holiday. We must not forget that Christian traditions have their own Valentine's Day - on July 8, the church celebrates the day of Saints Peter and Fevronia, who lived in love and harmony and died on the same day. Popular belief says: "Whoever gets married on this day will live happily ever after in love."

Valentine's Day, or Valentine's Day, is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people around the world. Presumably named after one of the two early Christian martyrs named Valentine - Valentin Interamnsky and Valentin of Rome.

Those celebrating this holiday give flowers, sweets, toys, balloons and special cards (often in the shape of a heart), with poems, love confessions or wishes of love - valentines to their beloved and dear people.

Lupercalia of Ancient Rome

The history of Valentine's Day dates back to the Lupercalia of Ancient Rome. Lupercalia is a festival of eroticism in honor of the goddess of "feverish" love Juno Februata and the god Faun (Luperk is one of his nicknames), the patron saint of flocks, which was celebrated annually on February 15th.

In the ancient world, infant mortality was very high. . In 276 BC. e. Rome almost died out as a result of an "epidemic" of stillbirths and miscarriages. The oracle informed that in order to increase the birth rate, a rite of corporal punishment (flogging) of women with the help of sacrificial skin is necessary. People who, for whatever reason, had few or no children were regarded as cursed and resorted to mystical rites to gain the ability to bear children. The place where the she-wolf, according to legend, fed Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome), was considered holy by the Romans. Every year, on February 15, a holiday called "Lupercalia" (Latin lupa - "she-wolf") was held here, during which animals were sacrificed. Whips were made from their skins. After the feast, the young people took these whips and ran naked through the city, hitting the women they met on the way with the whip. Women willingly set themselves up, believing that these blows would give them fertility and easy childbirth. This became a very common ritual in Rome, in which even members of noble families participated. There is evidence that even Mark Antony was a Luperk.

At the end of the celebrations, women also stripped naked. These festivals became so popular that even when many other pagan holidays were abolished with the advent of Christianity, this one still existed for a long time.

Saint Valentine and the history of the holiday

In 494, Pope Gelasius I attempted to ban the Lupercalia.

The Orthodox Encyclopedia notes that "it seems more likely that the celebration of this day replaced the lupercalia, the ancient Roman feast of female fertility, which fell in mid-February."

At the same time, according to other data, based on the research of historians William Friend and Jack Oruch (published in 1967-1981), the assertion that there was an ordinary replacement of a pagan cult with a Christian celebration, as it was earlier with Christmas, is not more than a guess that arose in the 18th century from the antiquarians Alban Butler, who was compiling the so-called. The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints, and Francis de Sales, on the basis of the complete absence of reliable data on Valentine, therefore an attempt was made to artificially link the writings of the XIV century with the events that took place in the III century. Scholars Michael Keillor and Henry Kelly also believe that there is no evidence to point to a connection between modern romantic narratives and the Roman festival.

Protodeacon Andrey Kuraev notes on this occasion that:

Was it really Pope Gelasius who appointed the feast of St. Valentine on February 14 - unclear. There is no doubt that it was this pope who put an end to the celebration of the Lupercalia in Rome. Also, this pope is remembered for the fact that he issued a decree restricting the circulation of the apocrypha and strictly defining the scope of the biblical canon. And yet I am afraid that there are no documents that would allow us to assert that "in 496, by papal decree, the Lupercalia were transformed into Valentine's Day, and Valentine, who gave his life for love, was canonized" .

Legends of Saint Valentine

In the late Middle Ages in France and England, the life of St. Valentina gradually began to acquire legends associated with the secret wedding of couples in love. According to the Golden Legend, in those distant and dark times, the imperious and cruel Roman emperor Claudius II came to the conclusion that a single man, not burdened with a wife and family, would be better off fighting on the battlefield for the glory of Caesar, and forbade men to marry, and women and girls - marry the men you love. And St. Valentine was an ordinary field doctor and priest who sympathized with the unfortunate lovers and secretly from everyone, under the cover of night consecrated the marriage of loving men and women. Soon the activities of St. Valentine became known to the authorities, and he was put in prison, sentenced to death. In conclusion, Saint Valentine met the warder's beautiful daughter, Julia. Before his death, the priest in love wrote a declaration of love to his beloved girl - a valentine, where he spoke about his love, and signed it "Your Valentine". It was read after he was executed, and the execution itself took place on February 14, 286.

According to another legend, the Roman patrician Valentine, who was a secret Christian who also converted his servants to the new faith, once performed a wedding ceremony for two of them. By denunciation or by coincidence, all three were detained by the guards. Valentine, as a member of the upper class, could escape death, but not his servant. Then, wanting to encourage the doomed fellow believers, Valentine writes them letters in the form of red hearts, meaning Christian love. A blind girl was supposed to send messages to the newlyweds, but unexpectedly Valentine himself came to the dungeons, who persuaded the guards to let his servants go in exchange for his life. Before entering the arena of death, Valentine handed over the last letter, consecrated by faith and kindness, to a blind girl, who after that received her sight and became a beauty.

Valentine heart - a symbol of the holiday

Scarlet heart valentines cards are now very well known as a symbolic gift on Valentine's Day.

The creation of the first "valentine" is also attributed to the Duke of Orleans in 1415. He sat in a dungeon, and thus perhaps fought off boredom by writing love letters to his wife.

And the greatest distribution of postcards-"valentines" reached already in the XVIII century.

modern celebration

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, on the pages of the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, a description was given to Valentine's Day, according to which February 14 was rather not a holiday, but the day of a kind of ritual, the participants of which felt its consequences throughout the year:

“On the eve of the day dedicated to St. Valentine, young people gathered and put into the urn the number of tickets corresponding to their number, with the names of young girls marked on them; then each took out one such ticket. The girl whose name was given to the young man in this way became his “Valentina” for the coming year, just like he was her “Valentine”, which entailed relationships between young people for a whole year similar to those that, according to the descriptions of medieval novels, existed between a knight and his "lady of the heart".

In 1969, the celebration of the day of memory of St. Valentine, as a general church saint, was discontinued, and his name was removed by the Roman Catholic Church during the transformation of the calendar of saints, due to the fact that there is no exact information about this martyr, except for his personal name and the legend of beheading with a sword.

Currently, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates on this day the memory of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, the Enlighteners of the Slavs, and this holiday has become optional.

In the Orthodox Church, the memory of Valentine, the presbyter of Rome, whose name is usually associated with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day, is celebrated on July 19 (old style - in old style churches, new style - in new calendar). The patrons of well-being in marital relations in Russia were considered Peter and Fevronia of Murom.

In 2008, the Federation Council of Russia approved the initiative to establish on their day of memory (July 8, new style, which corresponds to June 25, old style) "Day of Marital Love and Family Happiness"

In Russia

In Russia, the holiday is secular in nature and has been celebrated since the early 90s of the XX century.

The attitude of the Catholic and Orthodox churches to this holiday is ambiguous.

Catholicism

The Roman Catholic Church does not officially hold any special festive services on St. Valentine's Day, considering its celebration to be a folk, and not a church tradition. In the church, however, the "memory", and not the "feast" of the saint is celebrated.

The Secretary General of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia, priest Igor Kovalevsky, in turn, told RIA Novosti that in Russian Catholic churches on February 14, instead of the "Day of Lovers", which has pagan roots, the liturgical feast of the patrons of Europe, Saints Cyril and Methodius, is celebrated. The celebration in honor of St. Valentine on this day is, according to the priest, "optional."
- The Church does not celebrate Valentine's Day. Generalization // RIA Novosti-Povolzhye, February 14, 2008

Orthodoxy

Some hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church disapprove of the holiday.

A sharply negative attitude towards the feast of St. Valentine, are shown by representatives of some youth associations who consider this holiday alien to Russian culture and see it as a bad influence from other countries.

This also happens because in Russia since 2008 its official holiday has reappeared - the All-Russian Day of Family, Love and Fidelity, which is celebrated on July 8 on the day of memory of the holy noble princes Peter and Fevronia of Murom - patrons of family happiness, love and fidelity.

Attempts are being made to offer an alternative to the celebration of St. Valentine's Day in the form of St. Tryphon's Day (also February 14, according to the new style).

At the same time, a well-known Orthodox figure, Protodeacon Andrey Kuraev, spoke out in defense of St. Valentine's Day, believing that despite the emergence of the tradition of celebrating in Catholic culture, St. Valentine's Day also has Orthodox roots. As an example, Kuraev cites the history of the emergence of the celebration of Christmas, as well as the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. As well as the adoption by the Russian Orthodox Church on May 9 - Victory Day

Islam

The attitude of some representatives of the Islamic clergy to this holiday is negative.

Society

Nevertheless, Valentine's Day, for almost half of Russians, has become a full-fledged holiday. This is evidenced by the data of polls by VCIOM (VTsIOM) and the Levada Center. According to VTsIOM, this holiday is most popular among young people. More than 81% of boys and girls aged 18 to 24 celebrate this holiday. In the course of a study conducted by the Levada Center, it turned out that at the moment 53% of Russians consider themselves in love. Meanwhile, there are those who are ready to fight the "alien" tradition of celebrating this day.

The gifts include: souvenir hearts, flowers, postcards, etc. The bulk of buyers, according to statistics, are young people.

Holiday commercialization

Due to the growing demand for gift items, there is a negative attitude towards the commercialization of the holiday in society, as is the case with religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter.

Publicist Tatyana Fedorova notes about this that “a specific, rather bad-tasting, entourage is being created and the main emphasis of the holiday is gradually shifting from love-knightly worship, as was the case in the time of Chaucer and his epigones, to love-"eros"" At the same time time she notices that there is nothing wrong with using the experience of another tradition to embody the values of love by performing “a small good miracle for our dearest and most beloved people”, and also that each person decides for himself “to succumb to commercial bait or not, to follow traditions imposed from outside or create something of their own, their own "