“Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Franklin P. Jones
Just 2 days left, and Valentine's day is here. It is the most anticipated day for most couples, if not all as it is the time where they put extra effort when it comes to showing their affection to each other. Bouquets of flowers, chocolates, various events, teddy bears, and other stuffs will surely flood social media posts on this day. It is also considered as the "bitter" day for bitter people, people who just experience heartaches. They're favorite line? "*swear words* , magbrebreak din kayo!"(you'll break up eventually).🤣🤣🤣
We are always celebrating Valentine's day every year but do we know the origin of it?
The origin of Valentine's day goes beyond the year 496 AD from the Romans. The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February - officially the start of their springtime. The celebration has an event wherein men would pick a name of a woman on a box and the two would become a pair for the duration of the said festiva and sometimes, the pair would end up marrying each other. Later on, the church wanted to turn this festival into a Christian celebration and decided to use it to remember St Valentine too. Gradually, St Valentine's name started to be used by people to express their feelings to those they loved.
But who is Saint Valentine and what is the reasn why he was chosen to be the patron saint of the said celebration?
There are a lot of story about who Saint Valentine is but the most popular one is Saint Valentine being a Roman priest in the third century A.D. During this time, the emperor banned marriage since according to him, married men are weaker warriors than those who are not, however, Saint Valentine felt that it was unfair for these men, so he decided to conduct marriages in secret. He would roam around wearing a ring with a cupid symbol on it, so that people will recognize him. He would also passed on cards with message about love on it. Eventually, the emperor learned about it and had Valentine arrested. While on jail, he fell in love with the jailer's daughter. Before his execution, he gave out a card to the said lady with these words written on it: From your Valentine. From then on, Saint Valentine was considered as the saint of love and romance.
Celebration of Valentine's day when it was first celebrated was simple. There was nothing much to it, no fancy dinners, no chocolates, etc., just the presence of both men and women. It just shows that Valentine's day is not just about the material things that is important, it is the love and understanding of two people with each other. The material things was just added as people started being materialistic. Some couples' Valentine won't be complete without these, while some just celebrate it with a few gestures, like hugs and kisses, and a few words of endearment.
A lot of changes had happened as time goes on on how people celebrate Valentine's day all over the world. Especially now that we are experiencing this pandemic. But we can't change the fact that people would always be as affectionate as they can on this day. Some might still celebrate it the same way they are celebrating it every year, some may just stick to celebrate it in the simplest ways. Whatever and however to celebrate this day, always remember the main reason why we are celebrating Valentine's day. For us to show our love and affection to that special someone.
PS: Let me just share this post to you, I just find it so funny. Only Filipinos could understand this 🤣🤣🤣
