It is believed by many people as a Christian holiday because it was named after a Christian saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
Valentine’s Day can be traced back to the ancient Roman holiday of Lupercalia, which was celebrated in mid-February and involved acts of fertility and love.
When Christianity spread to Rome, the holiday was eventually co-opted and became associated with Saint Valentine, a martyr who was imprisoned and executed for performing marriages for Christian couples during a time when the Roman Empire prohibited such marriages.
Over time, Valentine’s Day became a day for exchanging love letters and romantic gestures, and by the 15th century, the sending of cards had become popular in England. By the 18th and 19th centuries, the day had become commercialized and was associated with the exchange of gifts, flowers, and confectionary. Currently, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world and has become a major holiday, with people offering a wide range of gifts, cards, and other products to help them express their love and affection for one another.
But is the concept of the day accepted by all or does the day center on a particular group of people?
Authors-Roberta Appiah & Ahanta Bred
