February 14 is Valentine’s Day. And in France, as in many countries, on Valentine’s Day, we celebrate lovers. But why on that particular day?
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Even if most French people consider the Valentine’s Day as a purely commercial holiday, they are also numerous to celebrate it. To great reinforcement flowers, chocolates, restaurant invitations, declarations of love or sexy little gifts. And if the opinion of the French concerning this holiday is ambiguous, it is perhaps because its origin remains unclear.
For some, indeed, the origin of Valentine’s Day is pagan. She would go back to the Ancient Rome. At that time, Lupercalia was celebrated between February 13 and 15 each year. A much less romantic celebration than our Valentine’s Day. A goat was then sacrificed in the cave in which, according to legend, the wolf had nursed Romulus and Remus. Coated with the blood of this goat, the young people of good families then ran through the streets to whip the women with strips of skin. Objective: to make them fruitful! It was also on this day that the young people drew lots for the name of the one who would be their partner for the rest of the year…
Valentine’s Day: Pagan or Christian?
Others claim that we owe Valentine’s Day to a martyr of the Catholic Church, Valentinus. While the Roman Emperor Claudius II had banned marriages – to encourage more soldiers to go to war – this priest would have indeed continued under wraps to marry lovers. A commitment that would have earned him imprisonment and then execution… on February 14. Then, the pope would have abolished the Lupercalia and named Saint Valentine, patron saint of lovers.
This celebration, which so many of us today consider to be a commercial celebration, has nevertheless been a real custom since Middle Ages. Processions are even organized to celebrate lovers. And games of hide and seek between singles are intended to allow everyone to find a soul mate. From the 19thand century, the practice of exchanging little words of love developed. And the “Valentines”, these cards bearing sweet words, become the symbols of Valentine’s Day. In the United States, it is customary to give them to all loved ones, in the broad sense of the term.
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