Saint's Day Valentina and his Russian counterpart. History of the celebration. Valentine's Day: Everything you need to know about the holiday Valentine's Day Message

Or Valentine's Day. Since the 1990s, this holiday has become popular in Russia.

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. At the dawn of Christianity, three people bearing the name Valentin died as martyrs for their faith. All that is known about the first of them is that he died in Carthage along with a group of fellow believers.

The second Valentine was the bishop of Interamna (now the city of Terni, Italy), he was executed during the persecution of Christians and buried along the Via Flaminia in the vicinity of Rome.

The third martyr, Presbyter Valentinus, was beheaded between 268 and 270 and buried along the Via Flaminia. The relics of Prester Valentine rest partly in Rome, partly in Dublin, and the relics of the bishop are in the city of Terni.

During the reform of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints in 1969, the celebration of Valentine's memory as a pan-Church saint was abolished on the grounds that there was no information about this martyr, except for the name and information about beheading by the sword. In the Catholic liturgical calendar, February 14 celebrates the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius.

In the Orthodox Church, both martyrs of Valentine have their own days of remembrance. Valentine the Roman, a presbyter, is venerated on July 19, and the Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on August 12.

The history of the emergence of the image of St. Valentine as the patron saint of lovers dates back to the Middle Ages and their romantic literature, and not to the circumstances of the lives of real martyrs who died at the dawn of Christianity.

The day of February 14 in England and Scotland was accompanied by a peculiar custom. On the eve of Valentine's Day, young people gathered and put tickets with the names of young girls written on them in an urn. Then everyone took out one ticket. The girl whose name was given young man, became his “Valentine” for the coming year, just as he became her “Valentine”. This meant that a relationship arose between the young people for a year, similar topics, which, according to descriptions of medieval novels, arose between a knight and his “lady of the heart.” This custom was of pagan origin.

According to the custom established since ancient times, young men on this day sent their beloved gifts, as well as letters and poems in which they expressed their feelings and wishes.

The very first Valentine's card in the world is considered to be a note sent from prison in the Tower of London in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, and addressed to his wife.

Valentine cards were very popular in the 18th century, especially in England. They were exchanged as gifts. The lovers made cards from multi-colored paper and signed them with colorful ink. By the beginning of the 20th century, as printing technology improved, printed cards began to replace handwritten ones.

Today is Valentine's Day in the form of hearts, with declarations of love, marriage proposals or just jokes.

Italians call February 14 a sweet day and give sweets and candies. Valentine cards are sent by mail in a pink envelope without a return address.

In Denmark they usually send dried white flowers to each other, and in Spain it is considered the height of passion to send a love letter by carrier pigeon.

Valentine's Day has been celebrated in Japan for decades now. This is not so much a declaration of love as a sign of attention. Friends exchange chocolate sets specially released for this day; many Japanese women buy “Valentine” chocolate for themselves. In recent years, the fashion for giving chocolate has reached primary schools and even kindergartens.

Giving chocolate on Valentine's Day is also common in South Korea, with only women giving gifts to their men. For the closest men of the resident South Korea make your own chocolate.

Strange things are happening in the world, progress is growing stronger. People lived for centuries, loved each other, and loved each other much more deeply than they do now. And they didn’t know any “Valentine’s Day” as a day for lovers. And now they have forgotten how to love, only 10% of created families survive, but they have learned to celebrate “Valentine’s Day” en masse. Oh, how cute he is in the pictures, this “Valentine’s Day” - “Valentine’s Day”, he’s all so plush-floral, heart-chocolate! Just a little girl's bedroom, not a holiday...

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"Valentine's Day" has become a day of bestiality

February 14 – “Valentine’s Day” or “St. Valentine’s Day” is another false holiday. Over the past two decades, many new and unusual things have begun to appear in the CIS countries, which today have already become firmly established in our daily life. Not only different goods are coming to us from the West and the East, but also new traditions, terms, behavioral stereotypes and holidays. Among the latter is “Valentine’s Day” or “Valentine’s Day,” which is widely celebrated in the West and now in our country.

Who was the person with the name who is associated with the tradition of celebrating “Valentine’s Day”? In numerous publications appearing on the eve of February 14, you can read the following beautiful legend.

“The Christian religion was outlawed when the priest Valentine preached in Rome in the 3rd century. During the time of Emperor Claudius II (268-270), the war with the Goths began and the recruitment of young people into the army was announced. But those who were married did not want to leave their wives, and those who were in love did not want to leave their loved ones. In anger, Claudius banned marriage ceremonies, but Valentine disobeyed the order and continued to marry young people. This made Valentine the friend of all lovers in Rome, but infuriated the emperor. Valentine was captured, imprisoned and executed on February 14, 269. On the eve of his execution, he sent a letter to the daughter of the prison governor, who was his lover. In the letter, Valentin said goodbye to her, thanked her for everything and signed: “Your Valentin.” This is what started the Valentine's Day tradition."

At first glance, everything seems very plausible and historically verified. But in reality it is completely untenable. Firstly, because the sacrament of weddings was formed in the Church only in the Middle Ages, in the 3rd century such a ritual simply did not exist. This means that Valentin did not marry anyone.

Secondly, a priest cannot marry. A priest, if he has not married before his ordination, loses his canonical capacity to marry. Otherwise, he commits a great sin, for which he is punished by defrocking. Thus, for Valentin, if he were a priest, the appearance of a new lover would mean the fact of betrayal either to his wife or to his faith. Under such circumstances, such a person simply could not be glorified as a saint.

The earlier history of Valentine's Day dates back to the Lupercalia of Ancient Rome. Lupercalia is a fertility festival in honor of the goddess of “feverish” love Juno Februata and the god Faun (Luperc is one of his nicknames), the patron saint of herds, which was celebrated annually on February 15.

IN ancient world infant mortality was very high. In 276 BC. e. Rome nearly died out as a result of an “epidemic” of stillbirths and miscarriages. The oracle informed that in order to increase the birth rate, a ritual of corporal punishment (flogging) of women using sacrificial skin is necessary. People who, for whatever reason, had few or no children were considered damned 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. Scourges 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 along the way with the whip. Women willingly exposed themselves, believing that these blows would give them fertility and an easy birth. 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 Luperc.
At the end of the celebrations, the women also stripped naked. These festivals have become so popular that even when many others pagan holidays were abolished with the advent of Christianity, this one existed for a long time.

The holiday began its victorious procession in the form in which we now know it from America in the 19th century. This “holiday” was invented by managers of the American Postal Service’s marketing service. The idea is simple. After a severe crisis, money was needed, preferably more, which the population would pay voluntarily. A person will not pay if his pride is not flattered - which means that you need to come up with a reason that encourages action. For example, give a card with words of love and an image of a heart - and you will show that you love and are ready to make happy, if not the whole world, then definitely your loved ones. This is how postcards with words of love appeared that could be given in honor of a certain “Saint Valentine”, and they were sold for millions of dollars, bringing unexpected profits.

Cupid (or Cupid) is another symbol of “pure and beautiful” Love. But few people know that in Ancient Greece, where he was called Eros, celebrations were held in honor of this plump baby with a bow and quiver of arrows - the so-called. erotidia, which reunited in a loving impulse, including persons of the same sex.

The advertising industry has been very successful in imposing these dubious symbols. As a rule, people are guided in their actions by the herd instinct. Living by the principle “like everyone else, so am I,” many, without hesitation, run to the shops on February 14, raking postcards from the shelves with a projection of a female part of the body visible from behind, making their modest contribution to the commercialization of love.

In pursuit of increased profits, merchants transferred the symbols of hearts and doves with the word LOVE to other gift items - from glass trinkets to giant cakes, and the sincere wishes of love and loyalty of ordinary people and the selfish aspirations of cunning people became a tradition throughout the West.

In 1847, a certain Esther Howlent managed to make a decent fortune for herself by making Valentine's Day cards based on samples that existed in England. Many of them were not at all chaste, and even indecent. Little boys relieving themselves on girls running away in all directions, lustful girls and suicide rope nooses hanging from ceiling beams are just some of the images. Every year, E. Haulent earned $100 thousand from this. Every year, 1 billion are sent out around the world on this day. greeting cards. Of these, 85% are bought by women who are so susceptible to romantic suggestions.

Opponents of this holiday in the West (there are some) call Valentine's Day a holiday of Hallmark, the world's largest manufacturer of greeting cards. In 2007, according to the American press, Hallmark earned $4 billion from people's feelings. Nowadays, love is measured in dollars.

“Valentine’s Day” is one of those newfangled holidays whose names do not at all indicate their ideological load. This day is celebrated with show programs and quizzes with piquant jokes. Many schools and gymnasiums strive to fulfill the “ritual” side of the holiday. A mailbox is installed in a prominent place, into which everyone from a first-grader to the school principal strives to drop off their “Valentine” with a declaration of love. Lessons fade into the background, everyone finds out who is in love with whom. In the evening there must be a disco with a program appropriate to the moment.

According to Allen Dulles's plan:“We will take on people from childhood, from adolescence, and we will place the main emphasis on youth. We will begin to corrupt, corrupt, corrupt them... We will quietly replace their values ​​with false ones and force them to believe in these false values...” sex education, generously sponsored by various Soros, swept through the youth of Russia like a heavy steamroller. Those who publish youth magazines, pharmaceutical products, etc. made very good money from this.

Taking a closer look, we will see that in these “days” of rampant passions, the female half of the population is still more motivated and involved, ranging from little girls to fully mature women. They prepare for these “days” for a long time and expect a lot from them.

But what are they expecting? Of course, Love! And they receive it in the form of paper, cardboard and chocolate hearts, sweets and cakes and, of course, in the form of special attention.

Men of different ages They are much more relaxed about “Valentine’s Day” and “Women’s Day”, not very well understanding what is expected of them on these days, but trying to justify these expectations and even use them to the maximum to achieve their purely masculine goals.

But after the “feast of the soul” (and not only the soul), a severe hangover sets in. For women and girls - accidental pregnancies, broken hearts, devastated Souls.

Since Soviet times, when statistics could be trusted, data is known according to which, after a nationwide celebration, “ women's day“There was a significant surge in the number of abortions and the birth of so-called “holiday children”, i.e. children with various psychophysical disabilities. It is clear that Valentine's Day is no exception. Durex says condom sales increase by 20-30% the day before and on the day itself.

In addition to this, the bloody harvest is abortifacient “material” (body parts of murdered children used in cosmetic industry) provides additional income to the scriptwriters and directors of these “holidays”.

Why are explanations about the background of all these “Valentine’s Days” so far ineffective? Because it is very difficult and often impossible to rationally deal with what is in the emotional sphere.

Why don’t young people want to hear about what is actually hidden behind these “days”? Most likely, because they are attracted by the word “love” in our harsh world, in which “love is becoming scarce.” Those who were separated from their parents early and went through the “nursery-kindergarten” system, not treated kindly parental love, not protected by it, but having grown thorns and prickles, they, like air, are looking for love for the rest of their lives and end up with just such substitutions. For them, love is no longer warmth, comfort, a lot of joint household chores and conversations. Parents who devote all their time and energy to earning money build purely functional relationships with their children: feed, clothe, put on shoes, provide entertainment. Mentally and spiritually undeveloped children also cannot give to anyone what they themselves have not received. It’s much easier to buy a paper or chocolate heart, give it to someone and forget about it. Now this is called love.

Love-look, love-secret, love-state - disappear. Actions of love appear. Love becomes a function. These were experiences before. Now everything is moving into objective activity. The subtlety of emotional experiences disappears.

This holiday instills a false concept of love, a substitution of concepts occurs. True Love is, first of all, chastity. It cannot sound otherwise than in combination with the words “family” and “family union.” The traditional family, which has always been based on the principles of love and mutual respect, is today forced to give way. For many people, family has ceased to be the most important component of their happiness and meaning in life, and is often perceived by them only as a temporarily necessary period in life that interferes with personal freedom. If a strong family without love and mutual respect is simply unthinkable, then for a free and non-binding relationship all that is required is love. This means that with the decline in the role of the family institution, the weight of holidays directly related to marriage and true Love also decreases.

Under the guise have a beautiful holiday love is being replaced by infatuation. And this substitution is barely noticeable for an undemanding person. Please note that it is not “Family Day” or “Love Day” that is celebrated, but “Valentine’s Day”. Who they are is not specified. And everyone interprets to their heart’s content as it suits them. Meanwhile, it turns out that not only legal spouses, but also other categories of persons can be considered lovers - from a young gigolo to the boss’s concubine, from a representative of a sexual minority to a “priestess of love.” And all this was wrapped in the robe of St. Valentine. Interestingly, even the famous Encyclopedia Britannica in 2000 diplomatically noted the lack of connection between “Valentine’s Day” and Saint Valentine himself or the events of his life.

The most disgusting thing is that children are very actively involved in this action. If quite recently the problem was how to prevent premature “adult” relationships, now they are literally pushing them towards them. Moreover, parents and teachers! How else can we understand the obsessive offer to draw “Valentines”, where there must be a boy and a girl (note, not a boy and a girl!)? How should we understand the proposal to write love notes to each other, so that teachers (!) will deliver them to the recipients?

An analytical document prepared by employees of the Moscow State Pedagogical University and the Moscow Department of Education notes that the so-called “Valentine’s Day” is an immoral holiday aimed at turning intimate feelings into a general and public event, and also exploits base feelings and perverts the very concept of love.

In 2011, in order to prevent the spread of Western culture, Valentine cards, teddy bears and other attributes of Valentine's Day were banned in Iran. In addition, some religious activists in India and Pakistan protest Valentine's Day as a holiday of fornication and shame. They view it as a Western celebration where people satisfy their sexual desires.

People, Love must be given regardless of the holidays. As for postcards and trinkets, these are absolutely useless things, just human whims, for which our Planet has to pay with its resources. Calculate how many trees need to be cut down to make cards, so that people all over the Planet can give each other cards for the holiday, which they can do without. Calculate how many resources are needed to make trinket gifts. And then count how many holidays are celebrated a year and how many cards and trinkets are given for all these holidays. People are being brainwashed: “Consume, consume, consume and don’t think about anything! There is no holiday without cards and gifts!” Now people are just consumers, consuming absolutely thoughtlessly, not realizing that with every purchase they consume the resources of the Planet, which do not have time to recover so quickly, do not keep up with the pace of consumption. As a result, we have an environmental disaster, and every consumer is involved in it. If you want to give something to the people you love, then give them love and attention. If you want to spend money, then instead of all sorts of trinkets and postcards, feed homeless people, animals, and finally, buy seedlings and plant a tree for your loved ones. This will be of greater benefit than gifts and cards.

It is worth thinking about whether it is necessary to continue celebrating this holiday according to the imposed habit, exchanging useless gifts. Maybe it’s better to remember our NATIVE holidays? Lyudmila Vasilchenko talks very well about nature-appropriate holidays in her lecture.

On February 14, many countries around the world, and more recently in Russia, celebrate Valentine's Day, or Valentine's Day. On this holiday, lovers congratulate each other, and those who have not yet found their soulmate make wishes. Read where this holiday came from and what its traditions are in our Questions and Answers section.

What holiday is it?

Valentine's Day is international holiday love, which has been celebrated in Europe since the 13th century and in the USA since 1777. In Russia and the CIS countries, February 14 began to be celebrated in the early 1990s.

On this day, it is customary to give souvenirs and gifts to your significant other. These could be cute trinkets, sweets, toys, flowers. Handmade crafts are also welcome. For example, heart-shaped cards, which are also called Valentines.

How did Valentine's Day come about?

There are two legends about the origin of this holiday. The first story says that Valentin was a prisoner who was imprisoned for healing the sick with the help of an unknown force. People did not forget their savior and brought him notes. One day one of these notes fell into the hands of a prison guard. The warden believed that the young man really had talent as a healer, and asked him to heal his blind daughter. The doctor cured the girl. When the girl saw her savior, she fell in love with him. The feeling turned out to be mutual.

However, there was no happy ending. On February 14, the young man in love was executed. Before his death, he wrote notes with confessions to his beloved and all close people. It is believed that this is how the tradition of giving each other valentines began.

The second legend tells that Valentine was a Roman priest. He served in the third century AD. At that time there was a ban on soldiers marrying. Julius Claudius II believed that wives prevent men from fighting and defending their homeland.

Priest Valentin, contrary to the ban, married soldiers in love. For this he was sentenced to death. In prison, Valentin fell in love with the guard's daughter, and the girl also fell in love with the young man. But she learned about the priest’s feelings only after the execution. On the night of February 14, the lover wrote a letter to the girl, where he confessed his feelings. The next morning he was executed.

How is Valentine's Day celebrated in Russia and around the world?

In America, it was customary to give marzipans on this day, which are quite expensive. In Japan, there is a tradition of giving sweets on this day. Preferably chocolate. In the Land of the Rising Sun, February 14 is a holiday for men. The stronger half receives more gifts than women.

The French customarily give jewelry on Valentine's Day. In Denmark, people send dried white flowers to each other. In Britain, unmarried girls get up before sunrise on February 14th. The young ladies look out the window at passers-by. They believe that the first man they see is their betrothed.

In Russia, on this day it is customary to give gifts in the shape of a heart and a valentine. However, no one forbids giving expensive gifts.

But in Saudi Arabia this holiday is officially prohibited. Anyone who breaks the law and, say, gives a Valentine card, faces a huge fine.

Does Russia have its own Valentine's Day?

Russia has long had its own Valentine's Day. However, the holiday has become widely known only in recent years. Since July 8, 2008, the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity has been celebrated in all Russian cities. It is also called the Day of Peter and Fevronia. Peter and Fevronia left earthly life on the same day, taking monasticism in old age, and 300 years later they were canonized. The symbol of the holiday is chamomile, a flower that is especially popular among all lovers.

Where and how did Valentine's Day come about? Being the most beloved holiday of young people, it has a centuries-old tradition and interesting story. However, lovers usually are not even interested in where and when the tradition associated with Valentines came from.

Valentine's Day, the history and traditions of which go back 18 centuries, dates back to Rome, more precisely, to the Lupercalia holiday. On this day, everyone left their affairs aside and indulged in fun and love. But not entirely erotic, but simply people trying to find a life partner or soul mate, which was often crowned with success. Usually after this festival of eroticism in Rome there appeared great amount new families.

Which originates from ancient Rome, is associated with many legends and traditions. It was during the period of celebration in Rome that heralding the arrival of spring. In addition, the holiday was associated with fortune telling, and not only young people and girls, but also serious politicians and business people believed mystical predictions. The range of fortune telling was quite wide - from trade to amorous affairs. And it is noteworthy that this very Valentine’s Day is still considered today. History also tells us that around the same period of time, Panurgies were celebrated in Greece, neighboring Rome, that is, celebrations in honor of the forests and fields of Pan, who was always in love with some nymph. Just before the arrival of spring, the Roman venerable matrons made many sacrifices to the goddess of motherhood and marriage, Juno, who, by the way, in legends and myths was often associated with Faun, the Roman prototype of Pan. Where is Saint Valentine, the history of the holiday? It’s just that all the ancient holidays had some roots associated with paganism. Now let's move on to Christian legends about the origin of Valentine's Day.

So, around the 3rd century, Saint Valentine lived in the city of Ternia, located in the Roman state. The story associated with his personality is generally shrouded in darkness, but some points leave no doubt. So, his profession was one of the most noble, Valentin was a Christian priest. Endowed with all the qualities of virtue, the hero of Valentine's Day was known as a kind and honest person. The time in which Valentine lived is associated with the reign of Claudius the Second, who persecuted Christians and honored only his legionnaires and warriors. According to his decree, none of them had the right to start a family or marry, so as not to stop thinking about military glory and valor, as well as the good of the Roman Empire. And a young Christian good priest, whose name was Valentin, married the soldiers in secret from everyone, not paying attention to the emperor’s decree. And, according to legends, the noble young man reconciled quarreling lovers, helped win the hearts of girls and wrote letters for those who did not know the letters. However, this could not continue for long, and soon Valentin was arrested and executed.

Valentine's Day, the history of the holiday does not end there. According to other legends, the priest fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer and managed to cure his beloved thanks to his knowledge of medicine. According to another version, the girl herself fell in love with Valentin, but the one who gave her was unable to reciprocate her feelings and only on the night or morning before the execution our hero wrote her the first and last love letter. The touching story of the poor heroic priest was not forgotten, and soon he was named saints and dedicated a holiday to him.

And what does Valentines have to do with it? Despite the fact that they are probably called that after the letter Valentine wrote to his beloved. Initially, valentines were written secretly, with the left hand, so that the recipient would not guess who they were from. And always in the shape of a heart, a symbol of love. So, Valentine's Day has sad story. However, thanks to the Roman priest, all lovers in the world have a day of love and happiness.