Tuesday , February 14 Valentine's Day 2017

Valentine's Day

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the liturgical celebration and romantic holiday. For Brazil's corresponding celebration, see Dia dos Namorados. For uses of Valentine, see Valentine. For other uses, see Valentine's Day (disambiguation).

"St. Valentine's Day" redirects here. For the Bing Crosby album, see St. Valentine's Day (album).

Valentine's Day
Antique Valentine's card
Also called	Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine
Observed by	People in many countries; Anglican Communion (see calendar) Lutheran Church (see calendar)
Type	Christian, cultural, commercial
Significance	Feast day of Saint Valentine; the celebration of love and affection
Observances	Sending greeting cards and gifts, dating, church services
Date	February 14 (fixed by the Western Christian Church) July 6 (fixed by the Eastern Orthodox Church)
	annual

Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine,^[1] is an annual holiday celebrated on February 14. It originated as a Western Christian liturgical feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus, and is recognized as a significant cultural and commercial celebration in many regions around the world, although it is not a public holiday in any country.

Several martyrdom stories associated with the various Valentines that were connected to February 14 were added to later martyrologies,^[2] including a popular hagiographical account of Saint Valentine of Rome which indicated he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire.^[3] According to legend, during his imprisonment, Saint Valentine healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius,^[4] and before his execution, he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell.^[5]

The day first became associated with romantic love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). In Europe, Saint Valentine's Keys are given to lovers "as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart", as well as to children, in order to ward off epilepsy (called Saint Valentine's Malady).^[6] Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.^[7]

Saint Valentine's Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion,^[8] as well as in the Lutheran Church.^[9] Many parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrate Saint Valentine's Day, albeit on July 6 and July 30, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni).^[10]