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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2005“Valentine’s Day History & Traditions”La Storia della Festa di San ValentinoThe History of Saint Valentine’s DayValentine’s Day started in the time of theRoman Empire. In ancient Rome,February 14th was a holiday to honorJuno. Juno was the Queen of the RomanGods and Goddesses. The Romans alsoknew her as the Goddess of women andmarriage. The following day, February15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.The lives of young boys and girls werestrictly separate. However, one of thecustoms of the young people was namedrawing. On the eve of the festival ofLupercalia the names of Roman girlswere written on slips of paper and placedinto jars. Each young man would draw agirl’s name from the jar and would thenbe partners for the duration of thefestival with the girl whom he chose.Sometimes the pairing of the childrenlasted an entire year, and often, theywould fall in love and would later marry.Under the rule of Emperor Claudius IIRome was involved in many bloody andunpopular campaigns. Claudius theCruel was having a difficult time gettingsoldiers to join his military leagues. Hebelieved that the reason was that romanmen did not want to leave their loves orfamilies. As a result, Claudius cancelledall marriages and engagements in Rome.The good Saint Valentine was a priest atRome in the days of Claudius II. He andSaint Marius aided the Christian martyrsand secretly married couples, and for thiskind deed Saint Valentine wasapprehended and dragged before thePrefect of Rome, who condemned him tobe beaten to death with clubs and to havehis head cut off. He suffered martyrdomon the 14th day of February, about theyear 270. At that time it was the customin Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed,to celebrate in the month of February theLupercalia, feasts in honor of a heathengod. On these occasions, amidst a varietyof pagan ceremonies, the names ofyoung women were placed in a box,from which they were drawn by the menas chance directed.The pastors of the early Christian Churchin Rome endeavored to do away with thepagan element in these feasts bysubstituting the names of saints for thoseof maidens. And as the Lupercalia beganabout the middle of February, the pastorsappear to have chosen Saint Valentine’sDay for the celebration of this new feast.So it seems that the custom of youngmen choosing maidens for valentines, orsaints as patrons for the coming yeararose in this way.Le Tradizioni della Festa di ValentinoValentine TraditionsHundreds of years ago in England, manychildren dressed up as adults onValentine’s Day. They went singingfrom home to home. One verse theysang 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 werecarved and given as gifts on February14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes werefavorite decorations on the spoons. Thedecoration meant, “You unlock myheart!”PAGE 10In the Middle Ages, young men andwomen drew names from a bowl to seewho their valentines would be. Theywould wear these names on their sleevesfor one week. To wear your heart onyour sleeve now means that it is easy forother people to know how you arefeeling.In some countries, a young woman mayreceive a gift of clothing from a youngman. If she keeps the gift, it means shewill marry him.Some people used to believe that if awoman saw a robin flying overhead onValentine’s Day; it meant she wouldmarry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, shewould marry a poor man and be veryhappy. If she saw a goldfinch, shewould marry a millionaire.A love seat is a wide chair. It was firstmade to seat one woman and her widedress. Later, the love seat or courtingseat had two sections, often in an S-shape. In this way, a couple could sittogether – but not too closely!Think of five or six names of boys orgirls you might marry. As you twist thestem of an apple, recite the names untilthe stem comes off. You will marry theperson whose name you were sayingwhen the stem fell off.Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed.Take a deep breath and blow the seedsinto the wind. Count the seeds thatremain on the stem. That is the numberof children you will have.If you cut an apple in half and count howmany seeds are inside, you will alsoknow how many children you will have.All information gathered for this articlecame from:http://www.pictureframes.co.uk/pages/saint_valentine.htm