Valentine Was A Saint You Idiots
It has always ticked me off when people say that Valentines Day is a holiday created by card corporations.
No. No it is not.
St. Valentine was originally a member of the Catholic clergy. He tried to merge Christian beliefs with Neo-platonism. His beliefs on love and marriage differentiated from the old Catholic practices, so he was considered to be a rebel (and later a martyr) who continued to marry couples without the consent of the church. Later, after his death, he was reinstated by the Catholic church and made a saint.
"During the reign of the Emperor Claudius II marriage was forbidden, but Valentine defied the law and married couples in secret. Valentine was imprisoned for refusing to renounce his faith. While in prison he befriended the jailer's daughter. Shortly before his execution he wrote a letter to her thanking her for her friendship and loyalty, which he signed 'Your Valentine'. He also communicated with friends sending them notes asking them to 'remember their Valentine'. Some people believe the custom of choosing a partner on St. Valentine's Day has its origins in the Roman feast of Lupercalia, a pagan festival of love. Part of the festival involved boys choosing a girl's name from a box. These pairings were then regarded as couples for a year. In 496A.D. Pope Gelasius changed the date of the celebration from the 15th to the 14th of February to dissociate it from the pagan festival, which insulted God, and changed it to a day to celebrate love."
So no, it is not for the sake of "singles awareness", and no, it was not a holiday created by gift/card corporations. If anything, it's just a holiday that's been commercialized, like Halloween and Christmas. So if you're going to dislike it, at least do it for educated reasons.
Here are some links that further discusses Valentine and his day:
http://www.tartan.tv/Web/Site/NewSite/Directory/MythsandLegends/Myths_ValLegend.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine%27s_Day
No. No it is not.
St. Valentine was originally a member of the Catholic clergy. He tried to merge Christian beliefs with Neo-platonism. His beliefs on love and marriage differentiated from the old Catholic practices, so he was considered to be a rebel (and later a martyr) who continued to marry couples without the consent of the church. Later, after his death, he was reinstated by the Catholic church and made a saint.
"During the reign of the Emperor Claudius II marriage was forbidden, but Valentine defied the law and married couples in secret. Valentine was imprisoned for refusing to renounce his faith. While in prison he befriended the jailer's daughter. Shortly before his execution he wrote a letter to her thanking her for her friendship and loyalty, which he signed 'Your Valentine'. He also communicated with friends sending them notes asking them to 'remember their Valentine'. Some people believe the custom of choosing a partner on St. Valentine's Day has its origins in the Roman feast of Lupercalia, a pagan festival of love. Part of the festival involved boys choosing a girl's name from a box. These pairings were then regarded as couples for a year. In 496A.D. Pope Gelasius changed the date of the celebration from the 15th to the 14th of February to dissociate it from the pagan festival, which insulted God, and changed it to a day to celebrate love."
So no, it is not for the sake of "singles awareness", and no, it was not a holiday created by gift/card corporations. If anything, it's just a holiday that's been commercialized, like Halloween and Christmas. So if you're going to dislike it, at least do it for educated reasons.
Here are some links that further discusses Valentine and his day:
http://www.tartan.tv/Web/Site/NewSite/Directory/MythsandLegends/Myths_ValLegend.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine%27s_Day