Happy Valentine’s Day!

What is Valentine’s Day?
Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many different countries around the world. In the UK, USA and Canada, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on the 14th February. It is a day to celebrate love. People show their affection to their loved ones by giving them gifts and cards or love letters. It is a tradition to send anonymous love letters by signing the card from “your valentine”, which brings us to our next question…

Who was St Valentine?
Many variations of the story about St Valentine exist, but the basic story was that he was a priest in Rome back in the third century. The Emperor at the time, Claudius II, had banned marriage. He believed that married men were not good soldiers as they were distracted by love. Valentine thought that this was very unfair, so he arranged marriages in secret. However, this was short-lived because he was sentenced to death after Claudius found out. While he was in jail, waiting to be executed, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and wrote her a love note on the day he died – the 14th February. The letter was signed “from your Valentine”.

Where do people celebrate Valentine’s Day?
People celebrate Valentine’s Day all over the world, however, many countries have different traditions. Some countries don’t necessarily have a “Valentine’s Day” but they may have a day where love is celebrated by exchanging gifts and cards. Take a look at some of the traditions around the world in this blog article.

What if you’re single?
If you’re single on Valentine’s Day, don’t fret because it doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate love. If you’re single, you may receive anonymous gifts or cards from your secret admirers! Or why not get together with your single friends and celebrate being single? It is normal these days for friends to send each other Valentines as it is a nice way to show them that you care and that you’re happy they are your friend.

Have you found love at St Giles?
We have heard of many stories where students have found love at St Giles! We love hearing about your stories so if you have a love story of your own, please do get in touch with us! We might even write about you in our next newsletter! You can contact us by email at hq@stgiles.co.uk. Don’t forget to send us a photo of the two of you, or your family, too! 😉