Tuesday 14 February 2012

Valentines Day



The Legend of St. Valentine

The history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? 

The Catholic Church recognizes 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 men. 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. 

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, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his jailor's daughter--who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Origins of Valentine's Day: A Pagan Festival in February

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial--which probably occurred around A.D. 270--others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to "Christianize" the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat's hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Valentine's Day: A Day of Romance

Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”--at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine's Day should be a day for romance.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.



Typical Valentine's Day Greetings

In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. 

Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap." Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.


Monday 13 February 2012

Happy Kiss Day 2012

13 Feb 2012 Kiss day has a great importance in all the valentine’s week. A girl is more attachedemotionally with a lovely kiss as a kiss is not just a kiss it is a symbol of security, dependability and comfort for any of girls so don’t shy boys girls needs you go and kiss your lover on that Kiss Day. Kiss day starts with the emotions of kiss and ends on the beautiful and lovely Valentine’s Day. It is the 6th day of the valentine’s week 2012.
Love is every where in the air around you but remember that it cannot be completed until this love is expressed in the front of your lover and a kiss is a best way to show that how much you care and love. An intense kiss overloaded with the emotions got deep desires to be loved and feel secure for a girl so express your love also in words and for thisKiss Day Day SMS, Scraps, Greetings, Wishes, Cards & Wallpapers will help you a lot because they will give you some romantic lines to say before kiss so that your lover also attached with that kiss same like you.

Kiss Day SMS, Scraps & Wishes

  • Love is heat.
    You are sweet.
    When two Lips are meet.
    Love is complete.

  • Dear customer! your kiss balance is getting low!! Please get somebody and recharge urbalance now! u have
    2 free kiss, and 3minutes hug will be expired on 1st January 2011
  • proposing u was my desire having u is my jekpot loving u is my attitude pleasing u is my duty missing u is my habit kising u is my wish 2gether 4eva my filfilment .
  • U r sweeter than honey. purer than milk.softer than flower. since i have u as my lover,come to me near, i’ll kiss ur lips without fear.u’ll say, having u is treasure & be wit me for ever.
  • “Give me a kiss, and to that kiss a score;
    Then to that twenty, add a hundred more:
    A thousand to that hundred: so kiss on,
    To make that thousand up a million.
    Treble that million, and when that is done,
    Let”s kiss afresh, as when we first begun.”
  • When I saw you, I was afraid to meet you… When I met you, I was afraid to kiss you… When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you… Now that I love you, I”m afraid to lose you.
  • If I had one wish
    I would give you a long and tender kiss
    and if I had two wishes
    then I would choose to do it over again.
As kiss express your love but expression needs some words which will given to you


Sunday 12 February 2012

Happy Hug Day 2012


Hugging is holding or closing arms aroung thee back, waste or neck of another person. Hugging gives a very great feeling of support and love. It is one of the best ways to show your love to any other person. Hug doesn’t made for any particular relation you can hug your mom, dad, sister, brother, lover or anyone. This is beyond of relations, an awesome feeling.





Hug Day 2012

Hug day is the most respected day of Valentine’s Week. Hugging someone is just like to sharing your half par with him/her. Hug creates trust among two persons. Hug says your all feelings, either you are sorry or you are very happy.

Why Hug Day is Celebrated
As we already told you that this Valentine’s Day is a complete ‘Love Cycle‘. If we consider as Valentine’s Week it is the sixth day of this week and it is celebrated on 12th February. This year the hug day is falling on Sunday so don’t miss to go out with your love. So on Valentine’s week you started it by gifting rose, then proposing, then chocolates, teddy and then making promise of living together. Now it is the time for a hug.

Happy Hug Day SMS

Your eye are looking very tired
Let your eyelashes hug each other,
Happy Hug Day..!!
__________________________________
My life is incomplete without you,
I want to wish you this very precious day.
I’m sorry that I’m not with you,
But I want to say..
Happy Hug Day…

Hug Day Quotes

“A hug not only means the attachments of two bodies,
But it is a great feeling of sharing thoughts without speaking any word.”
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“We can never wrap our love with any gift,
But a hug can wrap a person with love.”
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“A hug is just like hand shaken from heart.”
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“A hug is such one sized gift which fits all persons.”
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“A kiss without any hug is similar to a flower without the fragrance.”
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If you want to share your ideas or views on Hug day or if you want to tell us your ‘Love Story’ then you may share it with us by commenting below.