Valentine’s Day is a very special day when people
give each other candy, flowers, and cards to show their
affection to each other. It’s celebrated all across the U.S and in
many other countries. Valentine’s Day has a very mysterious
history, but the information people have uncovered is far from
pretty. Valentine’s Day has many origins surrounding it, and we
don’t know which is true, but all of them are sad.
One myth was that during the third century Rome,
Emperor Claudius II decided that unmarried men make better
soldiers than married men with children. So, the Emperor
outlawed all marrying of young men. One priest called
St.Valentine decided that this law wasn’t fair, and started
marrying young couples in secret. He was eventually caught
and beheaded by Emperor Claudius II for everyone to see. This
story is sort of romantic, but also very sad and unfair, not to
mention violent.
Some others believe that a bishop named Saint
Valentine of Terni was the real story behind the holiday, but he
was also beheaded, making that myth none the less bloody.
Other myths say that Valentine helped Christians escape Roman
prisons. One such myth even suggests that Valentine was
imprisoned there himself, where he fell in love with a jailer’s
daughter who visited him, sending her a note signed: “From
your Valentine”. We don’t know much about what might have
happened, and even though all of these myths were scary, you
can’t deny that there still was some love and sympathy behind
them.
Even though people can’t agree on the true reason for
this holiday, it’s still celebrated in places all over the globe, and
it’s a great excuse to eat candy.
