Feb. 14 is Valentine?s Day, a day of love, flowers and chocolate hearts. Many people do not question the reason for the holiday and just ride the wave. Do you know why we celebrate Valentine?s Day? Theoretically, Valentine?s Day should be spent reaffirming one?s affection for their partner, but I would like to consider Valentine?s Day a duty holiday for men.

Men usually celebrate it because they believe it is important to the women in their lives. I do not think a day should be set aside to remind your lover or special friend that you care about them; you should be reminding them on a regular basis how important they are to you. Most men know they had better remember Valentine?s Day, or else they will wind up in the doghouse. Most guys that I know, as well as a few women, think Valentine?s Day is a made-up holiday. A holiday created by Hallmark or FTD to sell cards and inflate the cost of flowers.

Admittedly, women tend to hold Valentine?s Day in higher regard than most men do. However, if something is special to someone you care about, it should be special to you. If the woman or man in your life does not apply any more significance to Valentine?s Day than you do, you can make it even more low-key. Although there should be some observance of the holiday ? unless you are politically opposed to it. The rest of the country, and much of the world has set aside Feb. 14 as a day to tell someone how much they care. So, even if you don?t know the reason we celebrate Valentine?s Day, you still should not forget it.

So you wonder where this holiday comes from if Hallmark did not invent it? Valentine?s Day originated in fifth century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop. For 800 years prior to Valentine?s Day, the Romans celebrated a pagan holiday in mid-February commemorating young men?s rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery, where young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man would be his sexual companion throughout the rest of the year. I bet men would like to continue that celebration instead of buying flowers and chocolates.

In an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a change in the lottery process. Instead of names of young women, he ordered the names of saints to be placed in the box. The boys and girls were to emulate the ways of the saint that they picked from the box for the remainder of the year. The young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule change. Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the church looked for a patron saint of love to take his place.

Bishop Valentine, who in 270 A.D. was beheaded by the Emperor Claudius, eventually became known as St. Valentine. He had been beheaded for helping young lovers marry against the wishes of the Emperor. Before execution, Valentine himself fell in love with the jailer?s daughter.

He signed his final note to her, “From your Valentine,” a phrase that has lasted through the centuries. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside Feb. 14 to honor St. Valentine. Gradually, Feb. 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. To everyone with a significant other or so-called special friend, please remember to mark Valentine?s Day on your calendar and do the right thing.

The editors in no way endorse any of the above rituals. Contact Crystal Clark [email protected].