Valentine's Day Traditions

Valentine's Day, also known as Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world.  St. Valentine's Day began as a celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. The most popular story associated with Saint Valentine was that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. During his imprisonment, he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius. Legend states that before his execution he wrote her a letter "from your Valentine" as a farewell.

The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Georrrey Chaucer in the high middle ages , when the tradition of love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").

 Valentine Greeting Exchange:  As a second grader Valentines Day was my first introduction to romance.  
I was able to express my innermost feelings for Betty, a girl in my class.  It was a special feeling and I was only able to achieve it with the encouragement of my Mom.  I was also able to express my feelings for my good friends.  I remember running from house to house, slipping the Valentine Card under the door, ringing the door bell and running and hiding behind a bush so that I might be able to see my Valentine find my card. Kerry



Other Valentine’s Day Traditions

• Draw names for secret pals the week before Valentine's Day.
• Perform small acts of service and kindness for that person, and then reveal your identities on Valentine’s Day. Make heart-shaped cookies and give them to those in your neighborhood or congregation who are alone.
• Have a red dinner with red jello, red mashed potatoes, beets, cherry cake, etc.
• Call relatives and tell them you love them.