The Origins of St. Valentine's Day

(Lupercalia)

 

Last Updated 2-14-15

 

ORIGINS OF THE HOLIDAY

 

TRADITIONS

Pictureframe.co.uk

"I LOVE YOU" IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

Declarations Of Love
TravLang's I Love You page
LE MUR DES JE T'AIME (The Wall of I Love You's)

MISCELLANEOUS LINKS


The Chemistry Of Love
Salon.com Editorial On VDay
Shakespeare's Sonnet 116
100 Best Love Poems

Alt.Suicide.Com Survival Kit

Valentine's Day Can Bite Me

BitterSweet (Editorial)

 

Some graphics courtesy of:

 

 


Graphics Courtesy of Pat's Graphics

Valentine's Day as we now know it, as with so many other American holidays, has come a long way from its origins, and the original intention and meaning has been lost over time, muted by commercialism and indifference.

I am a big believer in Holidays, however when I say that, I mean it in the purest sense. I think acknowledgements, rites of passage and traditions are a positive thing, and important to honor. But, I also think that doing something by rote without meaning kills the point. Of those who claim to hate such holidays, many or most do so because at some point in their lives, they were left out (that, and/or they're sick of the commercialism and hype). And, in the case of Holidays like Valentine's Day, there's no reason we cannot gift those we care about with special gestures on the other 364 days of the year as well. We are a society that is more terrified to tell someone "I love you" than we are to hurt them. I wish we would change that.  

The following is a compilation of notes from various sources on the Web, purporting to detail the history of the holiday. Links to sources used are on the left-hand menu.

Valentine's Day probably derives its origins from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia. In the early days of Rome, fierce wolves roamed the woods nearby. The Romans called upon one of their gods, Lupercus, to keep the wolves away. A festival held in honor of Lupercus was celebrated February 15th. The festival was celebrated as a spring festival. Their calendar was different at that time, with February falling in early springtime.

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 drew a slip. The girl whose name was chosen was to be his sweetheart for the year

Legend has it that the holiday became Valentine's Day after a priest named Valentine. Valentine was a priest in Rome at the time Christianity was a new religion. The Emperor at that time, Claudius II, ordered the Roman soldiers NOT to marry or become engaged. Claudius believed that as married men, his soldiers would want to stay home with their families rather than fight his wars. Valentine defied the Emperor's decree and secretly married the young couples. He was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and put to death

Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve of the Roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death, Valentine was named a saint. As Rome became more Christian, the priests moved the spring holiday from the 15th of February to the 14th - Valentine's Day. Now the holiday honored Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus.

 

[Source: Holidays On The Net]

 

At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February. One is described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern Terni),... Of the third Saint Valentine, who suffered in Africa with a number of companions, nothing further is known.

 

Source: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV
Copyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 2002 by Kevin Knight

 

 

Valentine's Day is named in memory of St. Valentine of Rome who died in 269 AD. Saint Valentine was arrested by Emperor Claudius II for helping Christian martyrs. After refusing to give up the Christian faith he was beaten to death with clubs and beheaded by the Prefect of Rome on February 14th. In 469 A.D. Pope Gelasius set February 14th as a day to honor him. Saint Valentine became the patron saint of epilepsy; having suffered from it in life. Saint Valentine also became the patron saint of lovers as the church assimilated the fertility festival Lupercalia into their calendar.

 

Lupercalia or Februarca, The Feast of Purifcation, used to be on February 15th and contained priests called Luperci who prayed to the wolf deity Lycaeus at the cave of Palentine. Lycaeus was the mother of the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. Marc Antony was master of the Luperci priests during his lifetime and in 44. B.C. offered the crown to Julius Caesar. The names Lyceum Temple of Love and February pure remain in the language today.

 

SOURCE: © Copyright 1999. Christine O'Keeffe

Ver. 1.0. Sunday, January 31, 1999

 

Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February -- Valentine's Day -- should be a day for romance.

 

The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

 

[Side note: Catherine of Valois is an ancestor via her husband Owen Tudor & the Edwards line to Virginia (see my Genealogy page)]

 

 

 

 

SOURCE: The History Channel

 

 

While Valentine of Terni and Valentine of Rome sometimes have separate entries in martyrologies and biographies, most scholars believe they are the same person.

SOURCE: Catholic-forum.com

 

 

In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards.

 

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.

 

SOURCE: picturesframe.co.uk

 

 

The Lupercalia was celebrated on the fifteenth day before the kalends of March (February 15th).

 

This primitive settlement, however,  was more than just a popular tradition; modern archaeology has discovered the post holes of huts dating to the eighth century BC (the traditional date of Rome's foundation was 753 BC).  It seems probable that the name of the festival was derived from lupus ("wolf").

 

In general, the ancients viewed the Lupercalia as a purification and fertility rite...

 

The Lupercalia was so popular that it survived the onset of Christianity, but in a different form.  In 494 AD, the Pope made February 15 the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.

SOURCE: Professor Roger Dunkle, CUNY Brooklyn, NY

(Thank You to Ron L. for mentioning this)