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How did Valentine's Day become the widespread and commercialized celebration that it is today?

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How did Valentine's Day become the widespread and commercialized celebration that it is today?

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In the United Kingdom during the 17th century, the celebration of Valentine's Day became widespread. In the 18th century, it was common for friends and lovers to exchange love notes written by hand. At the end of this century, printed cards started to replace these letters. In this period, Americans also adopted the tradition and in the 1840s, Esther A. Howland started to sell the first mass-produced Valentine's day cards.Currently, according to 'The Greeting Card Association', a billion Valentines are sent every year.
Since the nineteenth century, people have exchanged cards and gifts like roses and chocolates. The gift of roses is common between couples, friends and family, and the colour of the roses determines the message expressed. For example, the red rose symbolizes love, white represents peace and yellow represents friendship.

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Why is it celebrated on the 14th February?

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Why is it celebrated on the 14th February?

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Some think that Valentine's Day is on 14th February because this is the date when Saint Valentine died or was buried. Others believe that it is celebrated mid-February because it was an attempt by the Catholic church to christianize the celebrations of the pagan festival of fertility 'Lupercalia' which started on 15th February.

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What is the the history of St Valentine?

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What is the the history of St Valentine?

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There are various legends regarding the history of St Valentine; the only thing that can be said for sure is that there is lots of mystery and his exact story is not very clear.
One of the most well-known legends claims that St Valentine wrote the very first 'Valentine' himself, when he fell in love with a young girl (possibly the daughter of Asterius) who visited him in prison. Before his death, it is said that he wrote a card to her which he signed 'From your Valentine', an expression which is used a lot in current day Valentine messages.Because of these stories, without even asking for it, St Valentine became a patron saint for all people in love and in friendships.

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The Catholic Church recognizes 11 Saint Valentines and 14th February celebrates at least three of them:

1) Valentine of Rome: a roman priest who was martyred around the year 269 and was buried on Via Flaminia. His relics can be found in the Church of Saint Práxedes in Rome and in the Carmelite church of Whitefriar Street in Dublin (Ireland).

2) Valentine of Terni: around the year 197 he was named bishop of Interamna (now called Terni). He is also buried on Via Flaminia, but in a different place to Saint Valentine of Rome. His relics can be found in the Basilica of Saint Valentine of Terni.

3) A third saint called Valentine (according to the Catholic Encyclopedia) was mentioned in the early martyrologies under the same date (14th February). It only states that he was martyrized in Africa with some companions.

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Valentine's Day is celebrated on 14th February, the feast day of St. Valentine. It is a traditional celebration in which lovers, partners and married couples express their love and affection for each other. In some countries it is known as The Day of Lovers orThe Day of Love and Friendship.
These days it is celebrated with the exchanging of cards known as valentines, with patterns on of hearts or Cupid; but with the rise of the Internet the custom of exchanging virtual cards has also increased. Common as well is the tradition of giving roses or tokens of love.

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Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day and how did it start?

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Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day and how did it start?

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Pope Gelasius declared 14th February St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. Various theories exist regarding how Valentine's Day started and one of those describes a story that mixes drama with romanticism, whereas others claim that the celebration came about due to a pagan festival that was christianized.