Valentine's Day across the ocean !

Valentin's Day is being celebrated all over the world. It has never been a tradition in India to celebrate this day. As it does not fit anywhere in Indian culture and traditions.It doesn't mean that Indians lack the feeling of love and romance. It's just that many believe that there is no speical day to express the feeling of love for someone. It can be expressed any time, any day, any where. After all its Love ! Any way to love someone or to be loved by someone is a great human feeling.One must express and show one's feelings towards one in love. This is the extract of this beautiful day. Now it has become quite popular among youth for the last few years in India.The Card shops, Gift shops and some of the restaurants are decorated giving a special look to the celebration of this day. Beautiful flowers and bouquts can be seen at the market place.These shops are crowded with college students particularly. I just want to repeat the beauitful line which has been featured in Polish on recent Love stamp FDC issued by Poland on 6 Feruary 2009 for today's special Post, by George Sand (1804-1876), a French writer of the Romanticism period who was desperately in love with Chopin (1810-1849):

"There is only kind of true fortune in life - it is to love, and to be loved back."

Valentine's Day in Europe

This day originates from the feast of St. Valentine, the bishop of Terni - a town in Italy located near Rome. According to a legend, the bishop Valentine blessed the bond between a heathen legionnaire and a young Christian woman. Since such relationships were strictly forbidden by the emperor, he was locked up in a dungeon and subjected to torture. He died a martyr's death on 14 February around the year 270 AD. Incidentally, it was also the day on which Rome celebrated a feast of harvest and marriage vows. Since the year 900 AD, this heathen feast has been celebrated as a day of love oaths and promises of friendship, and dedicated to St. Valentine. Presently, on 14 February marriages and engaged couples gather in Terni, where the main basilica of St. Valentine is located, in order to renew their pledges of love.

Valentine's Day across the ocean

Valentine's Day gained its present setting, which is very different from its European original characterised by a blend of joy and solemnity, in the United States of America. Americans are the leaders in commerce, and nobody can match their skills in this area. The scope of the feast has been extended (presently it's generally a feast of love) and it has been added with various gadgets, such as hearts, flowers, pigeons, balloons, lollypops in the colour red - symbolising love, and so on. The most significant thing, however, is sending valentines, i.e. special postcards with sentences printed on them, such as for example "Be my Valentine." It is now increasingly popular to send valentines to all the people we like, or who are close to us. Such messages are quite frequently left unsigned, leaving it to the recipient to figure out who the confession of love or expression of liking came from. Valentine's Day customs migrated across the ocean and came to Europe. One might say that this small, local feast was transformed overseas and, after its return, gained popularity in most of the countries of the old continent. It became a feast of love and joy.

Chełmno - the town of love

For Polish people, the town of Chełmno, known as the town of love, means as much as Terni for the Italians. The local Church of the Assumption houses a baroque side altar dedicated to St. Valentine, and one of his relics, famous for its miraculous properties. Apart from a ceremonial mass, on 14 February various occasional concerts, games and competitions take place, and in the evening a huge heart made up of lanterns is lit. Moreover, heart-shaped baked rolls with added lovage are a local specialty.

It's worth knowing that...

In the Polish language the word 'walentynka' (Valentine), meaning the feast, the special postcard, and also a beloved person, is spelled with no capital letter, in the same way as the words 'mikołajki' (St. Nicolas' Day) or 'andrzejki' (St. Andrew's Eve). That is because it belongs to the category of common nouns, constituting names of popular customs or celebrations.

New stamp and First Day Cover

In order to commemorate St. Valentine's Day, Poczta Polska presents for the fifteenth time a special postage stamp which features the symbol of good fortune and luck - a four leaf clover. Its leaves are presented as hearts, one of which - the unique, pink one, is there just for you!

" I love you "

the FDC, apart from the clover, also features a citation from George Sand (1804-1876), a French writer of the Romanticism period who was desperately in love with Chopin (1810-1849): "There is only one kind of true fortune in life - it is to love, and to be loved back." The FDC also features an occasional date stamp, in use in Chełmno 1 Post Office. On account of the issue, numerous Valentine's Day events take place in the town of Chełmno, and Poczta Polska actively participates in them through organising, among others, a philatelic exhibition featuring all the stamps in the "I love you" series, published since 1992.
Courtesy - Polish Post

Gutter strips with Hearts by Australia