So why is Saint Valentine's Day considered the day for young lovers? In the Catholic Church they have at least three Saints with the name Valentine and there are a couple of stories that go with this legend. One story goes like this, during the time of Emperor Claudius II, the Emperor decided it would be best if the soldiers who served in his army were single men. In order to get what he wanted he outlawed marriage. Since Valentine understood the injustice of such a law he decided he would marry young lovers in secret. Of course when the Emperor found out about it, it is said Valentine was put to death.

 

Another popular store concerning this day is said that Valentine attempted to help Christians escape from Roman prisons and for his crimes he was imprisoned. During his time in prison it is thought Valentine actually sent the first Valentine Card to a young a girl he fell in love with. It's not certain as to whom the young girl was but the story goes it could have been the daughter of the jailer. Before his death he sent the young girl a card and signed it a very familuar phrase to this day, "From Your Valentine."

 

Now that is the Christian belief while others have a different version. It is believed that Valentine's Day was picked in the Christian belief to celebrate that death the St. Valentine because he was seen not only as heroic but also romantic. However if you look towards the Pagan Path it is a different story. It is said that Pope Gelasius chose February 14th as St. Valentine's Day. Although this was done during the 5th century it wasn't until much later that it was associated with love. Some believe they chose this date to celebrate the anniversary of Valentine's death but others believe they chose this date in an effort to Christianize the Pagan celebration of Lupercalia. This was a fertility festival dedicated to the God Faunus who is the God of wild nature and fertility, the Roman God of agriculture. He is also known as the Greek God Pan and therefore is the same image having horns and hooves. The Pagan date for this festival was February 15th.

 

The festival itself was held by members of Luperci, an order of Roman priests. The priests would gather in a sacred gave where the infants Romulus and Remus were believed to have been cared for by a "she-wolf." The infants were the founders of Rome. During this festival a goat would be sacraficed for fertility and for purification a dog would then be sacraficed. The goats hide would be stripped and split in two then dipped in sacrificial blood taken to the streets where they would gently slap the women and the corn fields with the hide. Roman women were not afraid of this ritual but instead they embraced it because it meant they would be more fertile in the coming year. During this festival in the later part of the day the young single women would put their names into and urn to become part of a lottery where they young bachelors of the city would pull a name and these two would become joined together for the year. Now maybe they had something here because most of these lottery winners ended in marriage.

 

In the Middle Ages it was believed Valentine's Day marked the start of mating season for birds. The oldest known Valentine was writen by Charles, the Duke of Orleans, it was sent to his wife while he was inprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415.

 

Happy Valentine's Day from Spiritual Cupboard and Staff!!!

 

This information taken from various sources.