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History of St.Valentine's Day
St. Valentine’s Day was supposedly started in the time of
the Roman Empire. In Ancient Rome, the date of February 14th
was a holiday to honor the Queen of Roman Goddesses and Gods, Juno.
Juno was known as the Goddess of women and marriage. The next day,
February 15th, was the first day of the Festival known as
the Feast of Lupercia.
On February 14th, it was said that the young girls of
the villages would write down the names of every girl and place
these names in a jar of which each young man would have to draw a
name of a girl and this particular maiden would be their partner for
the duration of the festival. Sometimes, these pairings would last a
year and end up in marriage.
These rituals, under the laws of Claudius, were banned as the
Emperor believed that the reason men would not go to war was because
they did not want to leave their lovers or families. As a result all
marriages and engagements were canceled. Saint Valentine, a Roman
priest, was said to have married these couples in secret and for
this he was executed on the 14th day of February.
While St. Valentine was in jail, it is said that he fell in love
with the jailer’s blind daughter. By a miracle, or some say by the
prayers of Valentine, she gained her sight and as a last farewell,
he wrote her a note reading "From Your Valentine".
Another story as to the origins of Valentine's Day was that Saint
Valentine was a priest and a physician who would cure the sick. He
was said to have tried to cure the jailer’s blind daughter, but, was
arrested and on the day of his execution he wrote a note as a final
farewell saying "From Your Valentine", which some say is what caused
her to gain her sight.
It is also said whilst he was in jail awaiting execution that he
was sent little notes and flowers from the children whom he had
helped when they were sick. This also may have been one of the
reasons why he sent a farewell note to the jailer’s daughter and why
we send valentines.
St Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14th of
each year; the reason why it is celebrated on this day is because
this was the day that the Patron Saint of Lovers "St. Valentine" was
supposedly executed. On this day lovers all around the world mark
this occasion as a day for sending poems, cards, flowers or candy,
etc. There may also be a social gathering or ball to mark the
occasion.
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