Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day, is celebrated on February 14th.

At the height of the century III, Emperor Claudius II, wanting to form a powerful Roman army, decided to prohibit the celebration of marriages. He believed that single young men performed better in battle.

However, Bishop Valentim disobeyed orders by celebrating secret marriages. When his secret was discovered he was arrested and tortured to death on 14 February.

Until his execution, Valentim was receiving flowers and notes sent by anonymous as a show of support, giving rise to the so-called “Valentines”.

According to legend, the daughter of Valentim's jailer, who was blind, moved by curiosity, asked to visit him in his cell and it is said that as soon as he got close, he regained his sight. They fell in love with each other and began exchanging love letters. In a letter written to his beloved, the bishop said goodbye with the expression “from your Valentine”, which is still used in the English language to designate boyfriend.

In Portugal, according to tradition, when a boy was willing to make the official proposal of marriage, he would first offer his girlfriend a small pot, molded in clay. If the gift was accepted, the private request was formalized, and the announcement of the engagement would depend only on the parents' wishes. Once consent had been given, the caninha served to keep the gifts that the groom and the bride's parents offered, namely gold pieces.

Currently, the caninhas are no longer used to ask for someone's hand or to keep jewelry, but they are assumed as “guardians” of secrets of love stories.

Several countries, such as Portugal, Spain and Argentina, celebrate Valentine's Day on Saint Valentine's Day. On this day, in addition to exchanging gifts, lovers usually go out to dinner and prepare surprises. In other countries, like Brazil, couples celebrate love on the eve of Saint Anthony, popularly known as the matchmaker saint.