what is the true meaning of being a valentine?
144257
The meaning of Valentine's day has basically been the same over the years...sending a message of love.  However, the history (see site below) would seem to indicate it is a message of love that says good-bye.\n\nThe Greeks have 3 words for love. 1) Eros, which is a physical, sensual love from which we get the word erotic. 2) Philos, which is a platonic, brotherly type love, from where Philadelphia (city of brotherly love) gets its name, and 3) Agape, which is the sacrificial love that Christian's use to describe God's love for the world.
95749
I always felt like it's one of those man made "holidays" (some people actually consider it a holiday) it makes people spend their money on presents, reastaurants, flowers, balloons, or whatever so who truly benefits from valentines day?. Love should be express on a daily basis, every day should be as special .
138411
it was named after st.valentine
110770
wrong\n\nEvery February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is 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 tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.\n\nOne 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 men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing 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.\n\nOther stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.  \n  \n 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 girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who 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 emphasize 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.
154023
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day#History_of_Valentine.27s_Day
98495
True love is difficult to discern but I can tell you this: true love is faithful, it's patient, it's loving the real you, loving you in the good times and the bad.  It's honest and open, and it's long-term.  You will carry their spirit with you when they are away and they yours.
123407
val·en·tine    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (vln-tn)\nn. \n\nA sentimental or humorous greeting card sent to a sweetheart, friend, or family member, for example, on Saint Valentine's Day. \nA gift sent as a token of love to one's sweetheart on Saint Valentine's Day. \nA person singled out especially as one's sweetheart on Saint Valentine's Day.
142791
YES! VALENTINE'S DAY IS NOT ONLY FOR LOVERS BUT EVEN FOR UR FRIENDS U CAN BE MY FRIEND.
4884
I would say Valentine day, it is just a happy day filled with love and romance. Even if your single and until I got married I was single every v-day it is still a day when you can reflect on the beauty of love and celebrate the love you have for yourself.
1124374
This is the defination I found out from the dictionary.\nHope this helps!\n\n\nLove\nFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\n(Redirected from True love)\nJump to: navigation, search\nThis article is about emotions of attraction. For other uses, see Love (disambiguation). \n \nThe Chinese character for love (愛) —its parts indicating (top to bottom): That which gives breath (ie. "spirit") to the heart, with a graceful motion.\n(Rose Quong - Chinese Characters:Their Wit and Wisdom)Love is a condition or phenomenon of emotional primacy, or absolute value. Love generally includes an emotion of intense attraction to either another person, a place, or thing; and may also include the aspect of caring for or finding identification with those objects, including self love. Love can describe an intense feeling of affection, an emotion or an emotional state. In ordinary use, it usually refers to interpersonal love, an experience usually felt by a person for another person. Love is commonly considered impossible to define.\n\nThe concept of love, however, is subject to debate. Some deny the existence of love, calling it a recently invented abstraction. Moreover, approximately 13 percent of cultures reportedly have no word for love.[1] Others maintain that love exists but is indefinable; being a quantity which is spiritual, metaphysical, or philosophical in nature. Love is one of the most common themes in art. An unfinished debate about the authenticity of love as other-regard began with Friedrich Nietzsche's charge that love is merely an ideology constructed by the weak to mask "resentment" about their lack of power. Critics of Nietzsche's view find gratuitous his assumptions that self-interest and the "will to power" overshadow all other concerns.
150255
valentine's day came from St. Valentine. He is a roman priest in nearly 600-700 a.d. In his time, roman should praise their roman god and godess, but valentine worship Chrsit, our God. That's why the emperor of that time decided to persecute Valentine. While he was in the jail, waiting for his persecution, Valentine wrote a letter for his love ones. He was persecuted and died february 14. \n\nEvery year, his family and friends celebrate his death by sharing their love to each other. When valentine became a saint. The tradition of his family spread all over the world. Thats how valentine's day originatred.
46500
Valentine's Day falls on February 14, and is the traditional day on which lovers in certain cultures let each other know about their love, commonly by sending Valentine's cards, which are often anonymous. The history of Valentine's day can be traced back to an obscure Catholic Church feast day, said to be in honor of Saint Valentine, are discussed below. The day's associations with romantic love arrived after the High Middle Ages, during which the concept of romantic love was formulated.\n\nThe day is now most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Starting in the 19th century, the practice of hand writing notes has largely given way to the exchange of mass-produced greeting cards. The Greeting Card Association estimates that, world-wide, approximately one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association also estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines
95380
I think we celebrate Valentine's day because if you didn't show your love for that one special person every other day of the year, then February 14th is the day to do it.  Showing you love or like somebody, to me, is the best thing to get or give as a gift because at least you know that somebody is thinking about you.
1007153
Saint Valentine's Day falls on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers let each other know about their love by sending Valentine's cards, which are often anonymous. The holiday is named after two men named Valentine, both Christain martyrs. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.\n\nFebruary 14 was traditionally dedicated to two ancient martyrs named Valentine. They are listed in early martyrologies under the date of February 14, which suggests that this is date of their deaths. There is a third St. Valentine from Africa who was also martyred on February 14, but he didn't get a saint's day. There is very little information about any these Valentines that can be considered historically accurate. The Valentines honored on February 14 are:\n\nValentine of Rome - a priest in Rome who suffered martyrdom about AD 269 and is buried on the Via Flaminia. His relics are at the Church of Saint Praxed in Rome  and at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland. \nValentine of Terni - He became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been killed during the persecution of Emperor Aurelian. He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the beautiful Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino). \nSome sources say the Valentine linked to romance is Valentine of Rome, others say Valentine of Terni. The Bollandists have concluded that the two were originally the same person.
97052
"SHERI":\n         No problem with this one.....!\n         Valentine's Day contains all of the hooks,snares,bells and whistles that men feel confident with as a means of "getting a foot in the door".Also,it gives them one day out of the year in which material extortion (candy,flowers,etc.)are perfectly alright are needn"t be thought of as gratuitous......I"m a man, I ought to know!......
149831
February 14 is Valentine's Day. Although it is celebrated as a lovers' holiday today, with the giving of candy, flowers, or other gifts between couples in love, it originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop.\nFor eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his companion during the remaining year.\nIn an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were allowed to draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes.\nInstead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in Valentine, who, in AD 270 had been beheaded by Emperor Claudius. \nClaudius had determined that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed the strategy, trying instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded.\nDuring the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.\nAlthough the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name. \nThe first Valentine card grew out of this practice. The first true Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.\nCupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards.
172984
Everyday is a good day to show Love, so a simple gesture like a heart shaped candy/chocolate, and a note/card...maybe dinner...in or out it depends on what would be more appreciated by your partner.  Happy Valentines Day Everyone!