The History of Saint Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient
Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of
the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of
women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast
of Lupercalia.
The lives of young boys and girls were strictly
separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name
drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman
girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young
man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for
the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the
pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would
fall in love and would later marry.
Under the rule of Emperor
Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns.
Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join
his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that roman men did
not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius
cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. The good Saint
Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint
Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for
this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the
Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and
to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of
February, about the year 270. At that time it was the custom in Rome, a
very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the month of February the
Lupercalia, feasts in honour of a heathen god. On these occasions,
amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of young women were
placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance
directed.
The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome
endeavoured to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by
substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the
Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to
have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feaSt.
So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for
valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way.
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St. Valentine's Story
Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during
the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled
by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I
wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to
join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to
leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men
signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy
idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind
joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages.
Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was
preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!
Did
I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to
marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on
performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really
quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and
groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening
all the while for the steps of soldiers.
One night, we did hear
footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying
escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used
to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was
death.
I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what?
Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit
me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know
that they, too, believed in love.
One of these young people
was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me
in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me
to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring
the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was
to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship
and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."
I believe
that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's
Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every
year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think
about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they
remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh --
because they know that love can't be beaten!
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Valentine Traditions
Hundreds of years ago in England, many children dressed up as adults on
Valentine's Day. They went singing from home to home. One verse they
sang was:
Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine ---
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.
In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February
14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the
spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"
In the
Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their
valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for
one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy
for other people to know how you are feeling.
In some
countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young
man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him.
Some
people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on
Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a
sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a
goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.
A love seat is a wide
chair. It was first made to seat one woman and her wide dress. Later,
the love seat or courting seat had two sections, often in an S-shape. In
this way, a couple could sit together -- but not too closely!
Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you
twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off.
You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell
off.
Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath
and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the
stem. That is the number of children you will have.
If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have.
HAPPY VAL TO ALL ELIGIBLE PRESS >>> WISHING YOU DA BEST OF LOVE
