14 待ちぼうけバレンタイン♪

2月14日は、269年に殉教した聖バレンタインの記念日♪

バレンタインカード

ローマ時代、2月14日は家庭と結婚の女神・ユノの祝日で、娘たちは名前を書いた札を桶に入れ、男たちはその札を1枚ひいた。二人は祭りのパートナーとなり、多くはそのまま恋に落ち結婚した。

ローマ皇帝・クラウディウス2世は、士気が下がると兵士の婚姻を禁止した。キリスト教司祭バレンタインは秘密に兵士を結婚させたため、捕らえられ処刑された。処刑はユノの祭日である2月14日があえて選ばれた。このためキリスト教徒にとっても、この日は恋人たちの日となった。

実は、初期のローマ教会は異教の祭事を排除しようとしていた。ただ禁止しても反発を招くので、何かキリスト教的な理由をつける必要があった。そこで兵士の結婚のために殉教したバレンタイン司教を由来としたらしい（笑

 

日本でバレンタインデーが定着したのは、1970年代後半だった。バレンタインデーにチョコレートを渡すのがいいのでは？と最初に考案したのも日本の製菓会社らしい。

 

西欧・米国でも、恋人やお世話になった人にお菓子を贈ることはあるが、決してチョコレートに限定されているわけではなく、またバレンタインデーに限ったことでもない♪

日本から英国へ移住したある夫妻が、夫は日本的に妻からもらえると思い、妻は欧米風に夫から祝われると思い、双方待ちぼうけをした、という実話がある（笑

Valentine's Day, also known as Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine,is a celebration observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it is not a public holiday in most of them.

St. Valentine's Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. Several martyrdom stories were invented for the various Valentines that belonged to February 14, and added to later martyrologies. A popular hagiographical account of Saint Valentine of Rome states 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. According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius. An embellishment to this story states that before his execution he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell.[3] Saint Valentine's Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion, as well as in the Lutheran Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine's Day, albeit on July 6 and July 30, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni).

The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). In Europe, Saint Valentine's Keys are given to lovers "as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart", as well as to children, in order to ward off epilepsy (called Saint Valentine's Malady). Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.