Love is in the air

By Keith Loh, student editor

Each year on February 14th, many people exchange cards, candy, gifts or flowers with their significant other. This day of romance is known as Valentine’s Day. For some, it is a day of love; while for others, it’s just like any other day.

“I don’t really care about Valentine’s day. It’s just another day for me,” junior Daniel Kricheli said.

Valentine’s day wasn’t always associated with love. Its origin dates back to 270 A.D in Rome, when Emperor Claudius II decreed that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families. Because of this, he outlawed marriage for young men. Saint Valentines, a christian cleric, found this to be unjust and continued to perform such marriage ceremonies in secret. When Valentine was discovered for what he was doing, he was sentenced to death.

Centuries later, in 500 B.C, Pope Gelasius declared February 14th the day that Saint Valentine would be honored and recognized for his actions and soft heartedness. It wasn’t until the 1300’s when Valentine’s day became definitively associated with love and romance.

It is uncertain as to who exactly Saint Valentine was, because there was more than one Christian cleric with the same name at the time. Though the origin of Valentine’s day stems from death, it is widely celebrated across the world. More cards are bought on Valentine’s day than any other holiday except Christmas. An estimated twenty billion dollars is spent worldwide and has become a major consumer holiday.

Some of Valentine’s past is still shrouded in mystery. There are multiple legends as to how Valentine’s day came to be but all the tales tell of a sympathetic, heroic and most of all importantly, romantic figure.