Monday, February 13, 2012

Valentine's Day (a short history)

A short article from the old "Harvest Times" newsletter I used to produce for home educators in the Bangor area. I debated adding more to it, it is quite short (there was limited spaced in HT), but I decided to leave it as it is, including the jokes at the end ~smile. I found the vintage Valentines on Pinterest.com. Aren't they great?



Valentine's Day, A Holiday of Love
by Penni Hill




Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day? Where did the customs we use today come from and when did they begin? There are several ideas of why we celebrate Valentine's Day the way we do.

Thousand's of years ago, February 15 was the day the Romans held a festival to honor one of their gods, Lupercus. It was a day of games, music and dancing. This was also the day the Roman’s had their “love raffle”. The names of young women were written on pieces of paper and put into a jar. The young men would draw out the name of their sweethearts for the coming year.

On February 14, 269 A.D. a Roman priest named Valentine was put to death for teaching about Christ.  In 496, Pope Gelasius named Valentine as a saint and made February 14 a special day to honor him.

Over the years we have combined many of the customs of these two holidays. Today, we consider Valentine’s Day as the holiday of love. We send beautiful cards of love, give chocolates and flowers, and have romantic evenings out. It is definitely a day for romance, but is romance love?

            1 John 4:7-10 gives us the definition of true love. "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins."




This Valentine's Day, let’s remember the man for whom this holiday was named and why it was named for him. And on this day may God’s love through His Son Jesus Christ become real to you.






Valentine Activities (for children and families)


Make some Valentine cookies. Put them in a pretty box and take them to an elderly neighbor or someone you know who is sick. Be sure to include a Valentine with a verse from God’s Word on it.

Visit a nursing home and take along Valentine’s you have made for all the patients (call ahead for exact number). While there sing love songs such as “Love Lifted Me”, quote scripture or put on a skit that tells what love really is.
 
 
Study about the human heart. Draw a picture of what a real heart looks like and learn how it works. Learn how to take your pulse rate.

Do a study on chocolate. When was it first made? What exactly is it made of? What place in the world makes the most of it? Where do most of the cocoa plants grow that we get our cocoa from here in the USA?



 


Be sure to send your loved ones a valentine this February 14. Why not take this chance to let them know how much they really mean to you!







Valentine Jokes 
from the book "Valentine Fun" by Judith Stamper



1. How do vampires fall in love?

2. Which month has twenty-seven days?

3. What flower is used most on Valentine’s Day?
(Answers at the bottom of page)







 
Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Olive.

Olive who?

Olive you.






Answers to jokes
1. It's love at first Bite
2. All of them
3. Tulip

Happy Valentine's Day!