Valentine's Day and Cupid, two characters that mark the celebration of love

Santo Domingo.- Today, February 14th, is Valentine's Day, and two characters play a relevant role in this commemoration: Saint Valentine and Cupid. According to history, Saint Valentine is the patron saint of lovers. He was born in the year 175 (other sources state the year 197) in the city of Terni, one hundred kilometers from Rome (Italy), where his remains currently lie under one of the side altars of the Basilica that bears his name. In the 3rd century, in times when Christians were persecuted, Saint Valentine dedicated himself to the service of the ecclesial community of his hometown. As bishop of Terni (formerly, Interamna) he risked his life many times to administer the sacraments. **It is said that he had a predilection for uniting couples in holy matrimony, as this multiplied the desire in others to establish a Christian home.**

Valentine loved flowers and used to give them to couples who were engaged to be married, as an expression of his wish that they have a happy life together.

Tradition has it that Roman Emperor Claudius II, in order to prevent Christian families from multiplying, forbade the celebration of all Christian marriages. In addition, he was convinced that married soldiers were not usually fierce enough, since they were emotionally subject to a family. Then, it came to the emperor's ears that Bishop Valentine had married a converted legionary to a young Christian woman, an act he considered a direct affront to his authority. He soon gave the order to locate and arrest the bishop. So the saint was imprisoned and then taken to the Via Flaminia, near the Porta del Popolo in Rome, where he would be whipped. To avoid tumult or protests from those who appreciated the bishop, Claudius decided to execute him and secretly bury his remains. 

Pope Gelasius established February 14th to honor Saint Valentine between the years 496 and 498.

Cupid

Cupid (also called Amor, Amoris in Latin poetry). In Roman mythology, he is the god of amorous desire. According to the most widespread version, he is the son of Venus, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, and of Mars, the god of war.

He is generally depicted as a naked, winged child, blindfolded and armed with a bow, arrows, and quiver. His equivalent in Greek mythology is Eros.

The version of his birth indicates that Cupid was born in Cyprus, like his mother, who had to hide him in the forests and let him be breastfed by beasts that were only pious with him. Venus did not dare to have him with her, fearing the rigor of Jupiter, who, foreseeing all the evil that the child would do to the universe, intended to strike him down at birth.

Cupid is the universal symbol of Love.

The destination, however, allowed Cupid to remain safe. He was formed beautiful like his mother, and bold like his father, and unable to be guided by reason, in the manner of his wild nurses. In the forest he made a bow with ash wood, and arrows of cypress.

You may be interested in: Why is February 14th celebrated? Origin and meaning

Some time later, Venus gave him a golden bow and arrows. Cupid's arrows were of two types: some had gold tips, to grant love, while others had lead tips, to sow oblivion or heartbreak. In addition, he was granted the power that neither men nor gods, nor his own mother nor even his own chest, would be immune to the wounds produced by his arrows, as evidenced by the love for Psyche, to which he himself was subjected.

Celebration of Love

The Valentine's Day is one of the festivities that has been commercialized the most by the Catholic Church. On February 14th, postcards are sent by lovers because, according to the medieval belief originating from England and France, on that day, that is, in the middle of the second month of the year, "all birds choose their mate". Nowadays, the celebration of Valentine's Day has become popular worldwide, and it has been taken advantage of by the market for the creation of all kinds of products for its commercialization. Data indicates that, on Valentine's Day, about 1 billion cards are exchanged each year.