As we all know, Valentine’s Day is coming up soon, on Feb. 14. Most of us celebrate it, but I doubt any of us think about why.

What Do You Think?

We sent out a survey to all students at CVMS about why they think Valentine’s Day is important. Out of 15 responses, 73.3 percent of them agreed that Valentine’s Day is important. Six out of 15 students thought that candy is one of the best parts of Valentine’s day, while 8 people thought it was about kindness and love. The rest thought that Valentine’s day has no importance.

History

According to Roses Only, the name Valentine’s Day comes from Saint Valentine, a Catholic priest in Rome from the 3rd century. So many stories have been told about him, and now there are many legends we know today. But here is the most common legend:

Basically, Emperor Claudius II created strict laws for Christians. He believed that if anyone fought for Rome, they were completely devoted to Rome, so he passed a law preventing soldiers from marrying. This is where St. Valentine comes in. He began to marry the soldiers in secret, Christian ceremonies. He thought that love had great importance. Someone found out about his ceremonies, though. Valentine was jailed for these crimes against the Emperor. While he was imprisoned, he met a blind girl and cured her blindness. He did one last thing before his execution: He wrote a love message to her and signed it, “From your Valentine”. He was then executed on February 14, 270.

Now we celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14 in honor of love, something that Saint Valentine truly believed in.

Why Is It Important?

So why did 73.3% of surveyed students say that Valentine’s Day is important? The biggest reason is so that people can show love and kindness. They can show that they care. And who doesn’t love discounted candy? Whether you’re in it for the candy or not, Valentine’s Day has great importance to many people. In elementary school, it just seemed like a party where everyone got everyone else a present. But there’s more to it than that. It’s not just a day for romance, it’s a day for kindness and respecting those around you.

But why might some people find this holiday useless? According to Quora, we shouldn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. Quora said that the holiday is a waste of time because we can show love and kindness to people every day. Why should we have a day dedicated to it? Others say that it can’t be considered a real holiday because we still go to school and work. One argument is that if we can’t consider it a real holiday, then it’s useless.

Valentine’s Day Around The World

Holidays are celebrated differently around the world. Everyone has different traditions for the exact same holiday. Here are a few examples:

• In the United Kingdom, it is believed to be bad luck to sign a Valentine’s Day card. And if you get roses on Valentine’s Day, you can thank the UK. They actually started the tradition of giving roses on Valentine’s Day!
• In Japan, women give gifts to men on Valentine’s day and men return the favor on March 14, one month later!
• In Denmark, people give pressed, white flowers rather than roses.
• If you’re visiting Wales, don’t expect to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Instead, you can expect to celebrate Saint Dwynwen, the equivalent of Saint Valentine for the Welsh. They celebrate this day on January 25.
• In Italy, they originally celebrated Valentine’s Day as the Spring Festival. There was also a belief that unmarried girls would wake up before dawn and spot their future husbands. It was said that the first man they saw was to be their husband within a year.
• Brazil holds it’s version of Valentine’s Day in June! They celebrate Dia dos Namorados, or Lovers’ Day. To celebrate marriage, they celebrate Saint Anthony’s Day the very next day!

If you would like to learn about more countries and how they celebrate, click here.

Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or not, I hope you learned a bit about this holiday.