The beginning of the 90s of the XX century in Russia became the time of the appearance of a holiday dedicated to all lovers. The celebration, known as Valentine's Day, has its origins in ancient Western customs. There are several versions of the origin of this holiday.
Some historians speculate that Valentine's Day, celebrated on February 14th, has become a Christian replacement for the pagan cult of Lupercalia. Lupercalia are special Roman fertility celebrations in honor of the goddess of love and the pagan deity Faun. This day in ancient Rome was celebrated on February 15th. In accordance with pagan customs, animals were sacrificed during the holiday, from the skin of which whips were subsequently made. Naked women were whipped with these whips so that the goddess of love would grant painless childbirth and healthy children.
There is a version that at the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I, who tried to prohibit Lupercalia, introduced the celebration of all lovers in memory of the early Christian martyr Valentine (but this guess is only an assumption, not confirmed by specific facts).
Currently, there is no exact information about the life of the person in whose honor Valentine's Day is named. There are several versions of Valentine's biography. The main essence of such stories is the story that the saint, secretly from the pagan authorities, performed the wedding of the newlyweds. However, at present, the Roman Catholic Church itself does not recognize the date of February 14 as the memory of the martyr Valentine for lack of accurate information about the life of the alleged saint. In 1969, the celebration of the memory of the martyr Valentine was completely abolished by the Catholic Church.
In the Orthodox calendar under February 14, there is also no holiday dedicated to Valentine. Orthodox people honor the memory of several Valentine Martyrs under different dates.
Thus, the celebration of Valentine's Day today has nothing to do with the Christian calendar tradition. The Orthodox calendar has its own special holiday dedicated to the day of family, love and fidelity - the day of remembrance of the holy noble princes Peter and Fevronia (July 8). It is this day that is currently considered Valentine's Day for Orthodox people. However, it should be borne in mind that the Church does not prohibit giving joy to their loved ones on other days, it is only necessary to understand that this should not be timed to coincide with holidays alien to Russian culture.
An Orthodox person must understand that it is possible to give joy to his loved ones any day, because this is a natural need for a loving human soul. To the best of it, if there is a tradition in families to congratulate their "halves" on February 14, then this practice can be abandoned. The main thing is not to ascribe a special sacred meaning to it. Therefore, it is the 14th of February that is an ordinary day on which everyone can give their warmth to a loved one. True, it is advisable to do this in the same way on February 15th and 16th, and on other days of the calendar year.
