Valentine's resolution

Lovers express their passions exchanging greeting cards, e-mails, flowers and lovely gifts; world's largest love parade takes place in Love Square at Berlin, where couples gather to enjoy Valentine's Day by singing and dancing. That's how the day takes on a festive mood , especially for lovers.

However, we should always keep in mind that Valentine's Day purports to love all the living beings on earth. Love is divine, the noblest frailty of the mind. So, the paramount significance of the day lies in the broader concept of philanthropy, and not only in love between man and woman.

St. Valentinethe historical perspective

Sirajul Islam, Social sciences researcher and consultant, Pisciculture Housing Society, Shyamoli, Dhaka

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who was this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this day? The history of Valentine's Dayand its patron saintis shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman traditions.

So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognises at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young menhis crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realising the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'Valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girlwho may have been his jailer's daughterwho visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasise his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Middle Ages, period in West European history roughly from the fall of the West Roman Empire in the 5th cent. to the 15th cent., were once called the Dark Ages. Christianity became the unifying force of culture. Feudalism and the manorial system, the Holy Roman Empire, the Crusades, and chivalry fused Christian ideals with economic, political, and military institutions. Guilds in rising towns maintained the Christian spirit in economic life. Universities developed under the auspices of the church. The philosophy of scholasticism, expounded by St. Thomas Aquinas, combined new learning with Christian faith. Gothic architecture and the writings of Dante and Chaucer show the vitality and spirit of the age.

Transition to the modern age came with a money economy, political centralisation, exploration, secularisation, and the humanism of the Renaissance. Finally, the Protestant Reformation shattered the medieval unity of Christianity.