Valentine's Day February 14

Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day is a holiday of Catholic origin, which is celebrated on February 14 in many countries of the world. Named after one of the two early Christian martyrs with the name Valentine Interance and Valentine of Rome Those who celebrate this holiday give their loved ones gifts, flowers, sweets, toys, balloons and special cards (often in the shape of a heart) with poems, love confessions or love wishes — valentines. Valentine cards-cards in the form of a scarlet heart are well known as a symbolic gift on Valentine's Day. The creation of the first "valentine" is also attributed to the Duke of Orleans in 1415. He was in prison, and so perhaps he was fighting boredom by writing love letters to his own wife. The greatest distribution of postcards reached already in the XVIII century.

Valentine's Day Stories
There are many legends associated with the name of St. Valentine. The most famous of them tells of a preacher who in 269 married the legionaries of the Roman Empire with their chosen ones, although then there was a ban on weddings, introduced by Claudius II. The emperor believed that marriage undermines the morale of soldiers. For disobedience, Claudius threw the priest into prison and soon executed him. Before his execution, Valentine wrote a letter to his blind beloved, in which he revealed the secret of his feelings. A blind girl, having received a dying message, saw clearly. Most likely, it is from this story that the tradition of writing Valentine's notes to your significant other on Valentine's Day comes.

Traditions in different countries
In our country, Valentine's Day is a fairly young holiday. In Russia, there was a Valentine's Day associated with the romantic story of Peter and Fevronia. It is still celebrated on July 8, however, the celebration has gained an official status — now it is the All-Russian Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. Many traditions that lovers adhere to on February 14 have come down to our days. In England, on the eve of the holiday, young people put notes with the names of girls in the urn, and then take them out in turn. The chosen girl is temporarily given the name Valentine, and the young man who pulls out a note with her name on it becomes Valentine for one day. In Italy the 14th of February is considered to be a sweet day. On Valentine's Day, it is customary to give sweets and other sweets, and love notes are sent without a return address. In France, this day is a gift of jewelry. In Japan, men are given chocolate figures in the form of Valentine's Day, and in the United States from marzipan, in Denmark they send dried flowers.