The meaning of Valentine’s Day

Valentines Day is usually celebrated every February 14 and is also known as ‘lovers’ day’ in Nigeria. Its a day set apart for lovers to celebrate their significant other and show them how important their relationship is to them.

Though, no holiday is set apart for Valentine’s Day, it is still widely celebrated among people of different race, tribe and even religion.

Valentines day has its origin from a third century roman catholic priest, saint Valentine who was martyred on February 14 in AD 269.

Saint Valentine’s Day was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496 to be celebrated on February 14 in honour of the Christian martyr.

Most people put on red attires blended with white on Valentine’s day, though it is not clear where the dressing code is obtained from but there are indications it is connected to Christmas day, since that is the predominant dress code for Christmas, it could be an extension from the previous celebration.

People often celebrate Valentines day by giving out flowers and gifts to their lovers with cards expressing how they value their relationship.

A quickie here, During the Middle Ages, it was believed that birds paired in mid-February. This was then associated with the romance of Valentine. Valentine’s Day is widely recognized as a day for romance and devotion.

Meanwhile, during the 18th-century, two English antiquarians Alban Butler and Francis Douce, suggested that Saint Valentine’s Day was created as an attempt to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia (mid-February in Rome) because they say that there is very little information known about the existence of saint valentine.

There are also stories that Saint valentine was jailed and martyred because he befriended his jailer’s daughter, sent a letter to her, tagged “from your valentine” and also healed her of blindness.

Other versions have it that he secretly wedded couples so as to prevent husbands from going to war, which eventually led to his death during the persecution of Christians by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus about 270.