lots of love: SAINT VALENTINE

LOVE IS ALL
WE NEED !
- The Beatles -

Hello Dear Ones ,
As You know ,
in Faerieland We Love to stretch
Special Days , and
St . Valentine's Day is a very
Special day for Us All ...
It is that Precious time when We
like to remind Our Loved Ones
just how much We truly
Love and Care for Them .

Sadly , like Christmas ,
Valentine's Day has become
commercial and many Folk
do not celebrate it anymore !
We have been badly brainwashed
into believing that to show Our Love ,
We have to spend a lot of money
on each other , buying expensive
Gifts , when a hand created card
or a bunch of flowers grown
and picked from Our Garden ...
a sunset picnic or
a poem written from the Heart
means so much more !

We All know deep inside
that Love is the most important
energy needed for Our survival ...
and that it is just other People's
insecuritues that try and stop
the Loving energy from
being the uplifting and magical
energy that it is !
For when the days are filled with
Unconditional Love
then everything flows well !
Everything We do with Love
in Our Hearts ,
brings more into Our Lives to Love
and be Loved !

WHO WAS ST. VALENTINE ?

"Saint Valentine ,associated with

Valentine's Day festival, is said

to have lived in Rome when

the country was under the reign

of Emperor Claudius II.

It is said that Emperor Claudius was

hard-hearted king who continuously

engaged Rome in bloody battles.

But in order to keep fighting,

he needed to keep recruiting soldiers.

However, to his disappointment

Claudius found that men were

not willing to join army because

of their attachment with
their wives and families.

In order to get rid of the issue,

Claudius passed a callous
decree that banned engagements
and marriages in Rome.

He also said that any priest
who married

a young couple would
be put to death.

Young men and women found a savior

in Valentine or Valentinus ,

a romantic at heart priest.

Even at the cost of his life,

Valentine stood against
the unjustified

order and secretly
arranged marriages

with the help of Saint Marius.

When Claudius finally found out

about Valentine's defiance,

he was brutally beaten
up and put to prison.

Later, Valentine was put to death

on February 14, about 270 AD.

For his martyrdom and service

towards lovers Valentine was

named a saint after his death.

The romantic festival of
Valentine's Day
is said to have originated in pagan
times in Rome when people
celebrated annual fertility festival
called Feast of Lupercalia
in mid-February.
A unique custom of the festival
was the mating of young boys
and girls for
a year through a lottery system.
Quite often the couple would
fall in love and marry.

By Middle Ages, Saint Valentine had

become the patron saint of love and

lovers in England and France.

So, when Pope Gelasius decided to put

an end to pagan celebrations of

Feast of Lupercalia,

he declared in 498 AD that

14th February be celebrated

as Saint Valentine's Day.

Since then lovers began to express

their love on the martyrdom

day of Saint Valentine.

One of the most important customs

of Valentine's Day festival

is the exchange of love notes called
‘Valentines' by lovers.
The tradition is said to have initiated
in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans
who sent the first known Valentine Day
card to his wife from prison.
In present times,
Valentine's Day is the second biggest
card-giving holiday after Christmas.
There is also the tradition
of gifting flowers,
chocolates besides other gifts of
love on Valentine's Day as
an expression of love.

Celebrating Every Relationship

From a day of romance to an occasion
that celebrates love in all its forms,
that is how Valentine's day has
evolved over the years.
From gifting tokens of love to girlfriends,
wives to boyfriends and husbands
this day has now become significant
for sending Valentine gifts or tokens
of love and affection across relationships.
So, be it your wife or sister or
mother you can now find this occasion
as a reason to express your love for
all of them through the various means
that have become popular these days."