ST VALENTINES DAY

With Valentine's Day upon us here is a little bit of trivia for you all.

Valentine's Day was named after the christian martyr Saint Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius in 500 AD. Saint Valentine was executed and buried on the Via Flamminia on February 14th.

St Valentine's day was deleted from the Roman Catholic calender of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI, but its religious observance is still permitted. It is traditionlly a day on which lovers express their love for each other presenting flowers, offering confectionary and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline doves, and the figure of the winged cupid.

Old day Valentine messages were hand written and given to the person on the 14th February of each year. There were no flowers given back then just a hand written note expressing how they felt about their lover.

William Shakespeare penned a  part of his play Hamlet Act IV, Scene 5 for Ophelia (1600-1601)

Tomorrow is Saint Valentine's day,

All in the morning betime,

And I a maid at your window,

To be your Valentine.

Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,

And dupp'd the chamber-door;

Let in the maid, that out a maid

Never departed more

 

That was back then, today's version of a poem for lovers goes like this:

Roses are red, the violet's are blue

The honey's sweet, and so are you

Thou are my love and I am thine

I drew thee to my Valentine

The lot was cast and then I drew

And fortune said it shou'd be you

So there you have it the tradition we call Valentine's Day. There are some countries in the world that have actually banned Valentine's Day for religious reasons. So put on your Sunday best, bring out the candles and the wine and tell your husband, wife, partner or lover just how much they mean to you on this special day.

HAPPY "VALENTINE'S DAY" everyone.