Cougar Cry
THE history of VALENTINES DAV
by: Heather Dean
Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome,
February 14th was a holiday to honor Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman
Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and
marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.
The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the
customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of
Lupercalia, the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into
jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be
partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the
pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and
would later marry. Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in
many bloody and unpopular military campaigns. Claudius the Cruel (figures he would
have such a title- doesn’t it??) was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his mih-
tary legions. He believed that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their
loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.
The good Saint Valentine was a priest in Rome, in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint
Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed
Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who con
demned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off In protest, the
young people and his supporters came to the jail and threw flowers and notes through his
cell window, so he would know that they, too, still believed in love. One of these young
people happened to be the daughter of the prison guard. He allowed her to visit the priest
and they would have long talks. She helped keep his spirits up by telling him that he did
the right thing by opposing the Emperor and ignoring his laws against marriage and per
forming them secretly. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year
270. But not before he left a note thanking her for her kindness, loyalty and friendship
signing it “ From your Valentine.” That note started the custom of exchanging love mes
sages on Valentines Day. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor Saint
Valentine. The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavored to do away with
the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens.
As the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen
Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feast. So it seems that the custom of
young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose
in this way. In the Middle Ages, Valentine became associated with the union of lovers un
der conditions of duress- enter Will Shakespeare and his tales of Romeo and Juliet among
others. Maidens in this time would put their names on heart shaped pieces of paper and put
them in jars for the men to pick out as fate decided. They wore these heart shaped pieces of
paper on their outer sleeve. Thus came the saying “wearing your heart on your sleeve.” In
today’s society we buy cards, gorge ourselves on chocolate, candy and cheesecake (if your
lucky chocolate-candied-cheesecake). We expect flowers and maybe dinner in exchange
for our affections from our significant other(s). So when you’re cramming that bon-bon in
your face, remember the saint who got bludgeoned and decapitated, all for the sake of
love.