HE
iN

Valentine’s Day traces back
to ancient Rome times

ST. VALENTINE’S Day is one of
the oldest holidays celebrated in
the Western world.

Historians have found that the
idea of sending love letters and
messages to one’s sweetheart on
February the 14th dates back to
ancient Rome.

Following is a list of St. Valen-
tine’s Day facts and figures:

© Although the day is named
for Valentius, a Christian priest
who was executed on Feb. 14, 270
AD, the festivities of the day can
be traced back to the days of an-
cient Rome.

* A Roman feast called Luper-
calia was held annually on Feb.
15. It was an important festival
held in honor of Pan, a Roman
god of fertility.

ty.

ti
eo
wae
”

*

© The British adopted this festi-
val and other Roman customs
during the Roman occupation of
Britain between the second and
fifth centuries.

e During the fifth century,
Christian missionaries and priests
attempted to do away with such
pagan festivals by substituting
them for Christian beliefs or Saint
days.

eIn 496 AD Pope Gelasius
ordered that Feb. 14 be celebrated
as St. Vaientine’s Day, in honor
of Valentius.

* Over the centuries, St. Valen-
tine’s Day took the form of a par-
ty and celebration without much
thought about its ancient Roman
origin or religious connotation.

© As early as the 14th and 15th

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centuries, it became custom to
send lavish presents, verses and
mottos to one’s lover. Fourteenth
century poet Geoffery Chaucer
wrote in The Parliament of Fowls:
“For this was on St. Valentine’s
Day when every fowl cometh to
choose his mate.’”

* Later in the 16th and 17th
centuries, poets and songwriters
wrote profusely on Saint Valen-
tine’s association with birds and
lovers .

For example, to choose one’s r

Valentine and to make it known
was the same as being engaged.
Shakespeare’s Ophelia in Hamlet
sang: ‘‘Tomorrow is Saint Valen-
tine’s Day, All in the morning
bedtime, And I a maid at your
window, To be Your Valentine.”’

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Sunday, February 10, 1991 - North Shore News - 19

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