Valentine's Day

On February 14th Valentine's Day has been celebrated with loved ones exchanging candy, gifts, and flowers, but does anyone know why we celebrate it? Valentine's Day was named after the mysterious St. Valentine, but we do not know for sure which Saint Valentine it is because the Catholic Church recognizes three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus. One legend says that Valentine served in the Roman army when Claudius the Second decided that men made better soldiers without families, so he outlawed any young man to get married. Valentine then thought it was crazy so started performing marriages as a secret for the young men, but when Claudius the Second found out about this he made the order that had put Valentine to death. Other legends say he helped Christians escape harsh Romans prisons. One other legend states that he had sent his first valentine to his jailor's daughter while he was imprisoned ending the letter with "From your Valentine". Some people believe this day is celebrated in the middle of February because of Valentine's death or burial, althought others say it was to "Christianize" the celebration of Lupercalia which is often celebrated February 15th and dedicated to Faunus the god of Agriculture and the Roman founders Remus and Romulus. As the Luperci began the festival they sacrificed a goat and a dog for the she-wolf that had cared for their infant founders. They would then strip the goat's hide and dip them into the sacrificial blood and use them to slap a woman's behind and the crops as they thought it would bring them more fertile the coming year. And then later on all of the young women in the city would plave their names in a large urn and the city's bachelors would choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen women, they often ended their relationship in marriage. Now that you have read this I hope you have also learned more about this famously LOVEly holiday.