St. Valentine

http://www.freeclipartnow.com/holidays/valentines-day/bear-1.jpg.html It's almost Valentine's Day. Stores have aisles full of valentine shaped hearts. Most Americans are getting ready to buy Valentine cards, candy, flowers, and other gifts for their sweethearts. It's a time chosen by many people to become engaged or get married. Classrooms all around the country have valentines on their bulletin boards, windows and walls. Teachers hand out work sheets with valentines on them, and have their students make valentine crafts. Children are busy making valentine boxes, addressing and signing valentines, and looking forward to having a Valentine's Day party. Why all this excitement over February 14th every year? There are several theories about that. One theory is that it is a left-over of the pagan holiday, Lupercalia, which occurred on February 15th. Lupercalia was a celebration in honor of Romulus and Remus. The Romans believed that Romulus and Remus were a set of twin babies that were raised in a cave by a female wolf. They believed that Romulus and Remus grew up and founded Rome. The rituals involved animal sacrifices and sex to ensure fertility and bountiful crops, so it also honored Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture. Some believe that the Christian church used the death date of a martyred saint as a way to replace that pagan celebration. The saint was named Saint Valentine. There is a lot of confusion connected to St. Valentine. Records about him are sketchy. Some think there were multiple men know as Saint Valentine, while others believe that the stories all pertain to one man.

Saint Valentine kneeling, 1600s painting,David Teniers III (1638–1685) http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/David-III-Teniers/St-Valentine-Kneeling-In-Supplication.html According to one story, Bishop Valentine was from Interamna in Italy. On a visit to Rome he was arrested and tortured to death on February 14, 273. After his body was buried, some of his followers went one night and rescued his remains and took him home for a proper burial. Another story says he was a Roman priest that lived during the reign of Claudius II, or Claudius Gothicus. He was caught marrying Christian couples. Helping Christians was against the law. Claudius condemned him to death. On Feburary 14th, they tried stoning him to death. It was taking him too long to die, so they beheaded him. Or, he may have been caught marrying young men, old enough to serve in the army or even soldiers. Claudius II believed that unmarried soldiers fought much better than married soldiers that had wives and children to worry about. He made a law forbidding any young man to marry. Still another story said he was the Bishop of Terni, a city, in Italy. He had been arrested and taken to Judge Asterius. Valentine witnessing to the judge about Jesus. The judge wanted proof, so he sent for his adopted, blind daughter. Valentine put his hands on the child's eyes and she was healed. The judge said that if there was anything Valentine wanted all he needed to do was ask. Valentine said first he should have all the idols broken. Next, the judge needed to fast for three days. Valentine said next the judge needed to be baptized. The judge did everything Valentine ask. The judge and his whole family and many others were baptized. Valentine was arrested again later. That time he was sent to the emperor of Rome, Claudius II, himself. Valentine witnessed to Claudius about Jesus. Claudius said Valentine must either renounce his faith or be sentenced to death. Valentine couldn't do that, so he was beaten and beheaded on February 14, 269. There is also a story that tells that Valentine fell in love with a young girl that visited him in prison. They exchanged letters and he signed his, "From your Valentine." Some people believe that the Valentine greetings started that way. In the Middle Ages, everyone in places like France and England believed that the mating season for birds always started on February 14th. Valentine greetings were popular even then. Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote his wife a Valentine poem in 1415. He was a prisoner in the Tower of London. As far as anyone knows, it is the oldest Valentine that still exists today. It was told that even King Henry V valentine note to Catherine of Valois. He was supposed to have hired a letter writer named John Lydgate to write it for him. Valentine's Day was and still is celebrated in many countries. Americans started giving valentine in about the 1700's. The “Mother of the Valentine, Esther A. Howland started making and selling valentines in the 1840s. She used colorful pictures decorated with lace and ribbons. Today there are about a billion valentines sent out each year. Most of them are bought and mailed by women. No matter how St. Valentine's Day got started, it's a nice time to let all the people you love know just how you feel about them. Happy St. Valentine's Day! Scan of a Valentine greeting card dated 1909. By Chordboard.