It's a day when everyone expresses love.

But why? Why do we even celebrate Valentine's Day?

Let's learn about it in today's episode.

Zoom in!

There are quite a few stories shedding light on the origin of Valentine's day.

One of which takes us back to the 3rd century Rome, which was going through a lot of religious turmoil as many Romans were converting to Christianity.

This didn't go well with the Pagan Emperor Claudius II, who was a strict ruler and wanted to stop it.

Plus, there was one priest who attracted much disfavor from the pagan emperor for helping fellow Christians.

And it was Saint Valentine.

That's because he lived in a time when the Roman Empire was in danger and faced threats from inside and outside the borders.

And of all the goofiness that could have been possible for the inability of the Roman army in defending the empire effectively, there was one that stood out to the emperor particularly.

He was of the opinion that marriages were causing distractions among the soldiers.

So he derived the decision to ban the soldiers from getting married, as it was making them weak and straying from the path of battling for the empire.

The ban on marriage came as a shock to the people, and it left them in emotional distress.

It is then, Saint Valentine decided that by the powers bestowed on him, he would secretly help the soldiers to tie the knot and began performing ceremonies in the church.

Due to this act of love, Saint Valentine became the angel who helped the emotionally distressed.

He also handed out heart-shaped parchment to remind these men of their vows and God's love.

Everything seemed to go well, but only for a while.

It was not long before the knowledge of this secretive mission went into the wrong places and was reported to Emperor Claudius II.

This annoyed the emperor so much that in his outrage, he ordered Saint Valentine to be arrested and locked him up in a dungeon.

But this was just the beginning of another story for Saint Valentine.

Yes, in jail, in which the saint was kept, had a jailer named Asterius who noticed Valentine talking and helping the people around him in the dungeon.

He also noticed how knowledgeable he was.

Convinced that Saint Valentine was a man of learning, he started to bring his blind daughter Julia to him in hope of being healed by him.

As Julia was a young girl with a sharp mind, Saint Valentine began reading her books about Roman history and gods.

This way, she began to see the world through his eyes.

And according to some legends, Saint Valentine also eventually healed Julia's eyesight.

Asterius was so happy by this, that he readily surrendered to Saint Valentine and took up his faith, Christianity.

Soon this news spread like fire and the gods learned about the active is taking place in the dungeon.

The pagan emperor was at last informed about the ongoing inside his own castle's dungeons and how Valentine was working his charm over the jailer.

So the enraged emperor immediately ordered Valentine to be summoned before him.

Emperor Claudius II asked Valentine to respect his decision of not allowing the soldiers to marry, as well as to give up his religion.

To both of which, Valentine politely declined.

The emperor took Valentine's hostility as an insult to his esteem and sentenced him to be executed.

Just before the execution, Saint Valentine wrote his last letter to Julia on the 14th of February.

He handed over the letter to Asterius to give to his daughter.

When she opened the letter, she saw his sign, "From your Valentine."

Did you know, it was much later in 496 AD that Pope Gelasius declared 14th February an official holiday to honor Saint Valentine?

Today, Valentine's Day is the fifth largest consumer spending event in the United States after the winter holidays and Mother's Day.

Today's sketch of the day goes to 10-year-old Nikhik. Hope you had fun today until next time.

It's me wishing you all a very happy Valentine's Day and zooming out.