| History
of Valentine's Day
Every year in the middle
of February, we celebrate a patron, St. Valentine. The history
behind Valentine’s Day still remains somewhat mysterious.
There are a few variations on how it all started. Most point
to the events surrounding a celebration called “Lupercalia”
in honor of the God Lupercus.It is said, this celebration
had its origins as a pagan tradition in the third century.
During this time many hungry wolves stalked outside of Rome
attacking sheep. Legend has it that the God, Lupercus, watched
over the shepherds and their flocks, keeping them safe from
wolves. In February the ancient Romans celebrated the feast
named Lupercalia in honor of Lupercus.
During Lupercalia, there
was a festival of eroticism that honored Juno Februata, the
Goddess of feverish love. It was a festival of sensual pleasure
and a time to meet and court a prospective mate. During the
festival the names of young maidens were placed into a container
and drawn at random by adolescent men and would then be partners
for feasting and sexual game playing for the duration of the
festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing
lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love
and would later marry. This celebration continued even after
wolves were eliminated.
Seen as a problem to Rome
as Christianity grew in influence, priests attempted to "christianize"
old secular practices. Pope Gelasius outlawed the pagan festival.
He needed a "lovers" saint to replace the pagan
deity Lupercus. Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred
some two hundred years earlier was chosen. To transform the
ancient pagan celebration the church changed the name to St.
Valentine's Day. Priests substituted the drawing of Saints
names for the names of the girls. On St. Valentine's Day the
priest placed saint's names into an urn. Boys and girls then
drew a name. In the following year, the youth was expected
to emulate the life of the saint whose name he had drawn.
By the fourteenth century, girl's names were once again drawn.
In the sixteenth century an attempt to once again substitute
the name of saints for girls failed. Despite the best efforts
of the Church, St. Valentine's Day continued to echo Lupercalia.
Evidently, there were seven
men named Valentine who were honored with feasts on February
14th. One of these men named Valentine was a priest under
the reign of Emperor Claudius II. This was around when the
heyday of Roman Empire had almost come to an end. Lack of
quality administrators led to frequent civil strife. Learning
declined, taxation increased, and trade slumped to a low,
precarious level. The Emperor was unsuccessfully trying to
recruit men to serve as soldiers for his wars. The men preferred
to remain at home with their wives, families and sweethearts
rather than to fight in foreign lands.
Emperor Claudius II became
angry and forbade priests to perform new marriages. Valentine,
feeling that this law was unjust ignored the decree from the
Emperor that forbade all marriages and betrothals. Valentine
and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly
married couples. After being caught in the act, he was apprehended
and brought before Rome. Valentine was condemned, thrown in
prison and sentenced to death.
The emperor, impressed with
the young priest's dignity and conviction, attempted to convert
him to the Roman Gods, to save him from certain execution.
Valentine refused to recognize Roman Gods and even attempted
to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully. On
February 24, 270, Valentine was executed.
While imprisoned, Valentine
cured a girl of her blindness. This girl was the jailer's
daughter. The girl fell madly in love with Valentine, but
could not save him. On the eve of his execution, Valentine
managed to slip a parting message to the girl, with the help
of her father, the jailer. The note, of course, was signed
"From your Valentine." After his execution by being
clubbed to death and beheaded, his friends retrieved his body
and it was buried in a churchyard in Rome.
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