1. SAINT VALENTINE’S DAY

2. The Legend of St. Valentine
The history of Valentine’s Day– and the story of its patron saint– is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

3. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?
Approximately 150 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second most popular card- sending holiday after Christmas.

4. The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men.

5. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

6. According to another legend, Valentine actually sent the first ‘valentine’ greeting himself. While in prison, Valentine fell in love with a young girl, his jailor’s daughter, who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which he signed ‘From your Valentine,’ an expression that is still in use today.

7. Legends usually says that Valentine was a sympathetic, heroic, and romantic person. In the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

8. Valentine’s Day and Christian church
But there is a version that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine’s day in the middle of February in an effort to ‘christianize’ celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival.

9. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of fertility, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

10. In the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big jar. The city’s bachelors would then each choose a name out of the jar and would then be a partner of chosen woman for the duration of the festival. Sometimes the pairing of the people lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.

11. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day around 498 A. D
Pope Gelasius declared February St. Valentine’s Day around 498 A.D. The Roman ‘lottery’ system for romantic pairing was deemed un- Christian and outlawed.

12. During the Middle Ages, people in England and France held a belief that birds started to look for their mate from February 14. This popular notion further helped to link Valentine's Day - celebrated in the middle of the February, with love and romance.

13. Over the period of time, St Valentine became the patron saint of lovers and they began to celebrate Valentine's Day as a day of romance by exchanging love notes and simple gifts such as flower.

14. In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes.

15. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology.
Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.

16. Modern Valentine’s Day
Nowadays Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many countries of the world on February 14. It is a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”).

17. Modern Valentine’s Day
Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include:
the heart-shaped outline,
doves,
the figure of the winged Cupid.

18. Typical Valentine’s Day Greetings
In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.
In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century.

19. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology.

20. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.

21. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap.”

22. Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

23. Thank you !!!