Happy Valentine's Day! I wanted to start off my very first post with something I'm very passionate about - LOVE - and what better day than Valentine's Day? While we generally think of Valentine's Day as a day loved-up couples celebrate their love in over-the-top gestures involving candle light, roses, boxes of chocolate, teddy bears, lingerie, jewels and other romantic gestures; we often forget the true meaning behind the most romantic day of the year. So here's a quick history lesson for you. Back in AD269, the Roman Emperor Claudius banned weddings, as he was actively trying to recruit men to join his army, but they instead refused to go to war, preferring to stay at home with their wives and families. His logic was that if they were unable to be married, they'd sign up for his army. He faced much opposition to this law, particularly from the martyr St Valentine, a true crusader for love, who started secretly marrying couples. Once this came to Claudius' attention, St Valentine was condemnded to be beaten to death. As the legend goes, he left a farewell note to the jailer's daughter, signed simply "From Your Valentine." To honour the romantic priest's memory, in AD496, Pope Gelasius set aside this very date for romance.
Bet you didn't know that!
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