Slightly contrary to the wide conception that Valentine’s Day is a day specially set aside for romantic enterprises as celebrated in this 21st CE where lovers are seen in their usual red and white wears exchanging love letters, varieties of gifts of great value, cookies, cakes, surprises and dates. In fact, 2022 Valentine’s celebration comes in its grand style in the sense that people package their gifts, brands become think-tank for lovers as they spice up their businesses to the optimum taste of their customers. Some of these brands try to make the saying ‘cut your coat according to your cloth’ a reality as we have silver, golden, diamond and platinum packages depending on the lovebirds. Some lovebirds have even booked a hotel for enjoyment purpose, while others decide to go on a lovely trip to places like Dubai, USA, Canada, and South Africa.
Some couples have even decided to leave their children in the custody of relatives, friends and perhaps teachers just to embark on a less disturbing romantic adventure. Isn’t this nice? For OAU students, we look forward to seeing red and white everywhere on campus as some people flood sport complex, new bukateria, ladies in their usual awwwn… he is so romantic! And other interesting things they involve themselves like renting a boy or a girl just for Feb 14 so as not to look like a short, broke and single boy or girl. Unfortunately, some singles may seem oppressed by their friends today and decide to flood their statuses with different captions like ‘God when, am I your stepchild?’ ‘single life is the best’ I want to be like Jesus, he did not have a val’ just to console themselves that they are single to stupor.
Could this be the origin of Valentine? History helps us to understand that the original account of Valentine may not be ascertained as a result of divergent perspectives given to the day. According to The New York Times, it’s possible that the love-filled holiday is based on the combination of two men. There were supposedly two Valentines executed on February 14 289AD (albeit in different years) by Emperor Claudius II. It is believed that the Catholic Church may have established St. Valentine’s Day in order to honour these men, who they believed to be martyrs. It is said that the day is commemorated in honour of St. Valentine, a father who refuted the emperor’s order to join couples together secretly, making him, in some eyes, a proponent of love.
Another account entangles the practice of writing love letters to your valentine. It is said that St. Valentine wrote the first ‘valentine’ greeting to a young girl he tutored and fell in love with while he was imprisoned for the aforementioned crimes. According to The History Channel, before his death, he wrote her a letter signed ‘From your Valentine’, which remains a commonly used phrase to this day.
Others believe that St. Valentine’s Day was actually designated by Pope Gelsius I in order to replace the ancient Roman festival Lupercalia, a celebration of fertility dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture, Faunas, and Roman Romulus and Remus.