1) Young Muslims - The Message

Pagan origins of Valentine's Day: The first information aboutthis day is found in pre-Christian Rome, when pagans wouldcelebrate the "Feast of the Wolf" on February 15, also known as theFeast of Lupercalius in honour of Februata Juno, the Romangoddess of women and marriage, and Pan, Roman god of nature.On this day, young women would place their names in an urn, fromwhich boys would randomly draw to discover their sexualcompanion for the day, the year, and sometimes the rest of theirlives. These partners exchanged gifts as a sign of affection, andoften married.Christian Influence: When Christianity came onto the scene inRome, it wanted to replace this feast with something more in linewith its ethics and morality. A number of Christians decided to useFebruary 14 for this purpose. This was when the Italian BishopValentine was executed by the Roman Emperor Claudius II forconducting secret marriages of military men in the year 270.Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than thosewith wives and families, so he outlawed marriage for young, singlemen, who made up his military. Valentine defied Claudius andperformed marriages for young couples in secret. When his actionswere revealed, Claudius put him to death. Another version of thestory says that Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who helpedChristians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were oftenbeaten and tortured.Valentine was arrested and sent to the prefect of Rome for this. Hefound that his attempts to make Valentine renounce his faith wereuseless, and so recommended he be beaten with clubs, and laterbeheaded. This took place on February 14, 270.According to the Catholic encyclopedia, there are at least threedifferent Saint Valentines, all of whom are Christian martyrs ofFebruary 14. One of them is described as a priest from Rome (asYoung Muslims, What they should know about Islam Page - 232