CUPID. Roses. Chocolate-covered strawberries. Valentine card and love letters. Romantic dinner dates. Wooing and cooing. And who knows what happens next?
Valentine’s Day is perhaps second only to Christmas that personally excites us Filipinos. There is a personal connection to this occasion devoid of its supposedly religious connection named after St. Valentine.
Who is St. Valentine? Let me share some interesting historic accounts about the mystery that surrounds the identity of the patron saint. Did you know that the Catholic Church says there are at least three different saints named “Valentine” or “Valentinus”? According to history.com, all of them were martyred.
One legend says Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome.
“When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.”
Another story refers to Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop, who according to history.com, “was the true namesake of the holiday. He, too, was beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.”
“Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured,” history.com wrote.
“According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl—possibly his jailor’s daughter—who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed ‘From your Valentine,’ an expression that is still in use today.”
Nobody can tell for sure about the veracity of these legends about Valentine, but the History Channel posits that “the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and—most importantly—romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.”
Why February 14?
There are reports that point to mid-February as the anniversary of St. Valentine’s death or burial, which the History Channel says probably occurred around 270 A.D.
There is another explanation which is similar to why we celebrate Christmas in December – to lure pagans to become Christians by riding on their traditions.
According to history.com, “the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.”
Lupercalia festival sounded gory and “un-Christian”. Here is how the History Channel described it:
“To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa.
The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year.
Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.”
This tradition was outlawed and by end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. However, the History Channel said it was not until much later that the day became definitively associated with love.
During the Middle Ages, history.com reported that the people of France and England believed that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which reinforced the idea that Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.
Who is cupid?
Remember how we see images of a naked cherub (winged innocent and sometimes playful looking baby angel) holding a bow and launching arrows of love at unsuspecting lovers?
That can be traced back to Roman mythology. According to history.com, “the Roman God Cupid has his roots in Greek mythology as the Greek god of love, Eros. Accounts of his birth vary; some say he is the son of Nyx and Erebus; others, of Aphrodite and Ares; still others suggest he is the son of Iris and Zephyrus or even Aphrodite and Zeus (who would have been both his father and grandfather).”
Eros was portrayed by Greek poets as “a handsome immortal played with the emotions of Gods and men, using golden arrows to incite love and leaden ones to sow aversion.” The History channel wrote that it wasn’t until the Hellenistic period that he began to be portrayed as the mischievous, chubby child he’d become on Valentine’s Day cards.
Romantic Filipinos
As we Filipinos pride ourselves as being sensitive and romantic people so in touch with our emotions, we have embraced this occasion wholeheartedly to have a day to be mushy, cheesy and shamelessly demonstrative of our passion and emotions.
Pre-pandemic, roses sell for an astronomical price and the demand for expensive chocolates to pair with them goes up. Restaurants with a romantic ambiance — dim lights, flower arrangement, love songs piped in or played by a live band for some cheek-to-cheek slow dance — match a Valentine menu with champagne and aphrodisiacs that ignite the erotic passion of lovers.
Hotels and motels become sold out as well, and I have heard stories about couples giving taxi drivers a tip just so they can make out in the back seat of the cab as the driver drives around and pretends not to see an X-rated action going on behind him. Other couples without much money would go to parks like Luneta, Manila Aquarium and Quezon Memorial Circle.
But love and romance are not once-a-year things. It should be celebrated every day to nurture true love and marriage. In this case, Valentine becomes not a big deal because loving actions are a way of life.
HAPPY VALENTINE!
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at [email protected], or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
