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Today is the festival of St. Valentine, the day on which we traditionally send greetings to those we love and cherish and, anonymously, to those we’d like to love and cherish.
There’s much argument about St. Valentine. Chief of these is: who was he? First mentioned by Pope Gelasius 1 in 496, more than one hundred years after the first official list of saints was produced, he was either a priest, a bishop or a martyr; you take your pick. There were seven St. Valentines and the one celebrated on 14 February was a priest or bishop who was martyred in ancient Rome.
Relics said to be of the saint are held in Rome, France, Austria, Malta, Glasgow and Birmingham. Other relics of his, exhumed from catacombs outside Rome and donated by Pope Gregory XVI to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin in 1836, feature in an annual Mass there for those in love.
There are no St. Valentine’s links to love and romance before it was mentioned by Chaucer in 1382, but by the time of Shakespeare 250 years later the links seem to have become well-established. By the time we reach Victorian times, ready-made Valentine Cards bound with lace and ribbons largely replaced handwritten love notes and commercialism really got under way. Now it is estimated that around half the UK population send Valentine cards and spend money on flowers, chocolates, jewellery and other gifts. Many of us also send ‘e-cards’ over the internet; the variety of cards is extensive and their cost minimal.
Many school children exchange cards on Valentine’s Day. But not in a primary school in Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. There, the school banned pupils celebrating Valentine’s Day or sending cards so as to protect them from the emotional trauma of being dumped, and the poor mites have been told that any cards found will be confiscated. The Head Teacher said, ‘The school believes that such ideas should wait until children are mature enough emotionally and socially to understand the commitment involved in having or being a boyfriend or girlfriend.’ Humbug!
In sharp contrast to the silly attitude shown by this school, is the much more romantic one shown by the managers of Manchester Airport. It seems that romantic surprises have been spoilt in the past when the ring was pulled out as security staff rifled through bags. So this year passengers who plan to propose to partners on Valentine breaks need only utter the code phrase ‘Be my Valentine’ to staff to be taken behind a screen so that the hidden ring is not revealed. The spirit of St. Valentine’s Day is not yet dead - at least in Manchester Airport!
Happy St. Valentine’s Day To You All!
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Today is the festival of St. Valentine, the day on which we traditionally send greetings to those we love and cherish and, anonymously, to those we’d like to love and cherish.
There’s much argument about St. Valentine. Chief of these is: who was he? First mentioned by Pope Gelasius 1 in 496, more than one hundred years after the first official list of saints was produced, he was either a priest, a bishop or a martyr; you take your pick. There were seven St. Valentines and the one celebrated on 14 February was a priest or bishop who was martyred in ancient Rome.
Relics said to be of the saint are held in Rome, France, Austria, Malta, Glasgow and Birmingham. Other relics of his, exhumed from catacombs outside Rome and donated by Pope Gregory XVI to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin in 1836, feature in an annual Mass there for those in love.
There are no St. Valentine’s links to love and romance before it was mentioned by Chaucer in 1382, but by the time of Shakespeare 250 years later the links seem to have become well-established. By the time we reach Victorian times, ready-made Valentine Cards bound with lace and ribbons largely replaced handwritten love notes and commercialism really got under way. Now it is estimated that around half the UK population send Valentine cards and spend money on flowers, chocolates, jewellery and other gifts. Many of us also send ‘e-cards’ over the internet; the variety of cards is extensive and their cost minimal.
Many school children exchange cards on Valentine’s Day. But not in a primary school in Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. There, the school banned pupils celebrating Valentine’s Day or sending cards so as to protect them from the emotional trauma of being dumped, and the poor mites have been told that any cards found will be confiscated. The Head Teacher said, ‘The school believes that such ideas should wait until children are mature enough emotionally and socially to understand the commitment involved in having or being a boyfriend or girlfriend.’ Humbug!
In sharp contrast to the silly attitude shown by this school, is the much more romantic one shown by the managers of Manchester Airport. It seems that romantic surprises have been spoilt in the past when the ring was pulled out as security staff rifled through bags. So this year passengers who plan to propose to partners on Valentine breaks need only utter the code phrase ‘Be my Valentine’ to staff to be taken behind a screen so that the hidden ring is not revealed. The spirit of St. Valentine’s Day is not yet dead - at least in Manchester Airport!
Happy St. Valentine’s Day To You All!
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