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Who Was St. Valentine?
February 14th is the feast day for St. Valentine. Just who was this saint, and why is his day connected with love and romance? For the answers to these questions, one must go back in history to ancient Rome. The Romans celebrated a pagan festival called Lupercalia every year on February 15th. This celebration was in honor of Juno, the goddess of women and marriage. It also celebrated Pan, the god of nature.
Lupercalia was celebrated by all the young unmarried people. They would place their names in a box and each would draw out the name of their beau. This was a way of matchmaking that resulted in some happy marriages, although it would certainly be frowned on in today's culture.
When the people of Rome started to embrace the teachings of Christianity, the religious leaders often tried to attach meaning to the traditional feast days so the people could keep celebrating them. They found out that a certain saint, named Valentine, had been beheaded on February 14th. This Valentine was martyred during the persecution sanctioned by Emperor Claudius 2 in the 200's A.D.
Oddly, another man named Valentine was also martyred on February 14th in a different city about 60 miles away from the first, and presumably in a different year. Historians are unsure if these two men are indeed different Valentines or are simply differing reports about the same man. This Valentine was also made a saint by the Catholic church.
St. Valentine was a priest whose life was certainly one characterized by love. He assisted persecuted Christians during the reign of Emperor Claudius 2, also known as Claudius the Goth. Legend has it that St. Valentine healed the blind daughter of the jailer who was in charge of these persecuted Christians. He was beheaded on February 14th in about the year 270 on Palatine Hill. This hill had previously been the site of an altar to Juno. This St. Valentine's remains were found in a catacomb in Rome and are now buried in the church of St. Praxedes in Rome.
The other St. Valentine was a church bishop in the town of Terni, also known as Interamna, which was about 60 miles from Rome. He reportedly converted a Roman family to Christianity (also an act of love). He was arrested and beheaded for doing it. As previously mentioned, these two men could be the same men, but history seems to indicate their were two different men named Valentine.
Because both men were martyred on February 14th, the day was designated as St. Valentine's Day by the Catholic Church. Some authorities think the association with love comes from a quote from the English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote that Valentine's Day is when birds begin to pair off. It seems more likely, however, that the ancient customs of Lupercalia are more to be credited with the modern emphasis on love and romance. Either way, Valentine's Day continues to be a time of celebrating loving relationships.
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