Around the third century A.D. in Rome, Julius Caesar had been dead for almost three hundred years, and the tyrant Claudius was in power. At that time, there were frequent wars inside and outside of Rome, and the people were suffering. In order to replenish the soldiers, the war to the end, Claudius ordered that all men within a certain age range must enter the Roman army to serve the country with their lives. Since then, husbands left their wives, and teenagers left their lovers. The whole of Rome was then enveloped in a long period of lovesickness. The tyrant was furious at this. In order to achieve his goal, he went so far as to forbid the people of the country to hold marriage ceremonies, and even asked those who were already married to break their marriage contracts.
However, love cannot be banned by tyranny. In the capital city of the tyrant lived a highly respected monk, Valentine, our hero. He could not bear to see a pair of couples living and dying in this way, so he secretly officiated at God's marriage ceremony for the couples who came to ask for help. In time, this exciting news spread throughout the land, and more couples secretly came to ask for the monk's help.
But the matter soon became known to the tyrant anyway, and once again he showed his brutal face - beating the friar into a large prison and eventually torturing him to death. The day of the friar's death was February 14th, in the year 270 AD.
February 14th gradually became a holiday in honor of the man who dared to fight the tyrant. Many centuries later, people can no longer remember Claudius's name, no longer remember his scepter and sword, but still will honor the Valentine friar, because that day is Valentine's Day, is Valentine's Day. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday set aside to honor Yona. Yona was the queen of the Roman gods, and the Romans honored her as the goddess of both women and marriage. The next day, February 15, was known as "Lupusala," a festival to honor the other gods under the rule of Jona.
In ancient Rome, the lives of young men and young women were strictly separated. However, on the festival of Lupasara, lads were allowed to choose the name of a girl of their choice to be engraved on a vase. This way, when the festival was over, the lad could dance with the girl of his choice and celebrate the festival. If the chosen girl was also interested in the boy, they would be paired up and eventually they would fall in love and walk into the church together to get married. For this reason, the 14th of February is celebrated as Valentine's Day. An English dictionary explains that February 14th, the Feast of Van Taylor (Valentine's Day), is derived from the ancient Roman festival of the Shepherd God. Birds were said to begin mating on this day. The custom was that during the festival, each young man drew lots from a box containing strips with the names of young women. Whoever was drawn became the young man's sweetheart. The festival was later changed to honor a Christian saint named Valentine.
St. Valentine, a young Christian missionary in ancient Rome, risked his life to spread Christianity, was arrested and imprisoned, and touched the old jailer and his blind daughter, who took good care of him. Before his execution St. Valentine wrote a letter to the girl, showing his deep love for her. On the day of his execution, the blind girl planted an apricot tree with red flowers in front of his tomb to send her love. That day is February 14th. Nowadays, on Valentine's Day, many young men still make beautiful crafts of courting St. Valentine's postcards, cutting them into butterflies and flowers to show that their hearts are sincere. Girls place laurel leaves on their pillows at night in the hope of dreaming of their lovers. It is common to express a lover's feelings for each other by giving a red rose on Valentine's Day. A half-opened red rose is given as the perfect gift for a girl on Valentine's Day, while the girl is given a box of heart-shaped chocolates as a gift in return.
It is said that phenylamine, one of the ingredients in chocolate, causes hormonal changes in the body, similar to the feeling of being in love.