Valentine’s Day is coming up next weekend, and just the mention triggers emotional responses in people.
They love it, hate it or have conspiracy theories about it.
I’ve met many a man who believes Valentine’s Day was birthed by an industry needing to sell more cards, chocolates and flowers each year.
While I can’t find any truth to that theory, it’s interesting to note that over 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged in North America annually, and that doesn’t include the little ones children give out in class.
We also spend about $2 billion – yes, that’s a “B” – on chocolates and flowers every year around Valentine’s Day.
So there’s proof that the flower, card and chocolate industries get a huge boon every February, but was it their idea, or did they just capitalize on it?
As with most things, industry didn’t come up with the idea, they just figured out how to make it lucrative.
Many agree the holiday was set up to honour St. Valentine; however, there are at least three such named saints recognized by the Catholic Church.
The one most widely tied to Valentine’s Day is the saint who served as a priest in Rome during the third century under Emperor Claudius II.
The emperor known for bloody battles was allegedly having trouble recruiting young men to fight in his army because they feared they wouldn’t come home to their wives once taken into war. Seeing marriage as a stumbling block to beefing up his ranks, the emperor outlawed it for young men of fighting age.
St. Valentine rebelled and continued to marry young lovers despite the decree, leading to his death, which some say was on Feb. 14 in about 270 A.D.
It appears Catholics of the day may have turned the saint’s death into a catalyst for change. At around the same time as his passing, the church moved to dedicate the middle of February to St. Valentine in an apparent effort to displace the pagan celebration of Lupercalia – a fertility festival held at that time.
It wouldn’t be the first time religious leaders took over a pagan holiday and changed its meaning. Think Christmas.
At the end of the fifth century, Pope Gelasius officially declared Feb. 14 as St. Valentine’s Day, and over time the day became associated with love.
By the early 1700s it was the norm in North America to exchange handmade Valentine’s Day cards, and in the 1840s the first mass-produced cards came into existence.
We’ve been lapping up love day ever since.
Whatever your feeling about Valentine’s Day, I think it’s important. It’s a day dedicated to telling those we love how much we care about them, and in an “all about me” society, I warmly embrace any day that helps us get our minds off ourselves and take stock of the love that’s around us.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
