St. 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 or The 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. 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. However, like most holiday celebrations, Valentine's Day has been commercialized  and now many think it seems more like a celebration organized by the shops and department stores  as any hint of romanticism has been lost. Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day and how did it start? 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.