St. Valentine
Valentine was clubbed to death, then beheaded, on February 14 around
270 C.E. during the Christian persecution. In a way, it could be
said he died for love and it may be for this that his feast day, named
in 496 C.E. by Pope Gelasius, has become associated with romance.
You are invited to share the following versions of how it all began
with your sweetie. We have now included several "official"
Catholic versions. Enjoy!
Remember, St. Valentine was executed. That makes it a perfect
day to remind people that KILLING IS WRONG! We don't have anything heart
shaped, but get your AbolitionWear(tm) at
http://www.cuadp.org/abolitionwear.html
A brief history of St. Valentine's Day!
Lupercalia: A "Feverish" Festival
We may owe our observance of Valentine's Day to the Roman celebration
of Lupercalia, a festival of eroticism that honored Juno Februata, the
goddess of "feverish"(febris) love. Annually, on the ides of
February, love notes or "billets" would be drawn to partner men and
women for feasting and sexual game playing.
From Sinful to Saintly?
Early Christians, clearly a dour bunch, frowned on these lascivious
goings-on. In an attempt to curb the erotic festivities, the Christian
clergy encouraged celebrants to substitute the names of saints. Then,
for the next twelve months, participants were to emulate the ideals
represented by the particular saint they'd chosen. Not too surprisingly,
this prudish version of Lupercalia proved unpopular, and died a quick
death.
Easier to Do: Substitute Romance for Eroticism
But the early Christians were anything but quitters, so it was on to
Plan B: modulate the overtly sexual nature of Lupercalia by turning this
"feast of the flesh" into a "ritual for romance!" This time, the
Church selected a single saint to do battle the pagan goddess Juno --
St. Valentine (Valentinus). And since Valentinus had been martyred on
February 14, the Church could also preempt the annual February 15
celebration of Lupercalia. The only fly in the ointment was Valentinus
himself: he was a chaste man, unschooled in the art of love.
Putting the Right "Spin" on St. Valentine
To make the chaste St. Valentine more appealing to lovers, the Church
may have "embellished" his life story a little bit. Since it happened so
long ago, records no longer exist. But if it didn't happen this way, it
certainly makes for a better story...
According to one legend, Valentinus ignored a decree from Emperor
Claudius II that forbade all marriages and betrothals. Caught in the
act, Valentinus was imprisoned and sentenced to death for secretly
conducting several wedding ceremonies. While imprisoned, the
future Saint cured a girl (the jailor's daughter) of her blindness. The
poor girl fell madly in love with Valentinus, but could not save him. On
the eve of his execution, Valentinus managed to slip a parting message
to the girl. The note, of course, was signed "From your Valentine."
Another version:
In Rome in C.E. 270, Valentine had enraged the mad emperor Claudius
II, who had issued an edict forbidding marriage. Claudius felt that
married men made poor soldiers, because they would not want to leave
their families for battle. The empire needed soldiers, so Claudius
abolished marriage.
Valentine, bishop of Interamna, invited young couples to come to him
in secret, where he joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius
learned of this "friend of lovers," and had the bishop brought to the
palace. The emperor, impressed with the young priest's dignity and
conviction, attempted to convert him to the roman gods, to save him from
certain execution. Valentine refused to renounce Christianity and boldly
attempted to convert the emperor. On February 24, 270, Valentine was
executed.
History also claims that while Valentine was in prison awaiting his
fate, he fell in love with the blind daughter of the jailer, Asterius.
Through his faith he miraculously restored her sight. He then signed a
farewell message to her "From Your Valentine," a phrase that would live
long after its author.
Valentine was clubbed to death, then beheaded, on February 14 around
270 C.E. during the Christian persecution. In a way, it could be said he
died for love and it may be for this that his feast day, named in 496
C.E. by Pope Gelasius, has become associated with romance.
AND NOW, the "official" Catholic version:
St. Valentine
At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are
mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February. One is
described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern
Terni), and these two seem both to have suffered in the second half of
the third century and to have been buried on the Flaminian Way, but at
different distances from the city. In William of Malmesbury's time what
was known to the ancients as the Flaminian Gate of Rome and is now the
Porta del Popolo, was called the Gate of St. Valentine. The name seems
to have been taken from a small church dedicated to the saint which was
in the immediate neighborhood. Of both these St. Valentines some sort of
Acta are preserved but they are of relatively late date and of no
historical value. Of the third Saint Valentine, who suffered in Africa
with a number of companions, nothing further is known.
Saint Valentine's Day
The popular customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day undoubtedly
had their origin in a conventional belief generally received in England
and France during the Middle Ages, that on 14 February, i.e. half way
through the second month of the year, the birds began to pair. Thus in
Chaucer's Parliament of Foules we read:
For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day
Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.
For this reason the day was looked upon as specially consecrated to
lovers and as a proper occasion for writing love letters and sending
lovers' tokens. Both the French and English literatures of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contain allusions to the practice.
Perhaps the earliest to be found is in the 34th and 35th Ballades of the
bilingual poet, John Gower, written in French; but Lydgate and Clauvowe
supply other examples. Those who chose each other under these
circumstances seem to have been called by each other their Valentines.
In the Paston Letters, Dame Elizabeth Brews writes thus about a match
she hopes to make for her daughter (we modernize the spelling),
addressing the favoured suitor:
And, cousin mine, upon Monday is Saint Valentine's Day and every
bird chooses himself a mate, and if it like you to come on Thursday
night, and make provision that you may abide till then, I trust to
God that ye shall speak to my husband and I shall pray that we may
bring the matter to a conclusion.
Shortly after the young lady herself wrote a letter to the same man
addressing it "Unto my rightwell beloved Valentine, John Paston
Esquire". The custom of choosing and sending valentines has of late
years fallen into comparative desuetude.
HERBERT THURSTON
Transcribed by Paul Knutsen
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV
Copyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton Company (Used here WITHOUT
permission)
Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight
Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
and this, from the official "Catholic Lives of the Saints":
St. Valentine
C.E.270
Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his
family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He
was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on
finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith ineffectual,
commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards, to be beheaded.
Valentine was executed on February 14, about the year 270 C.E.
Pope Julius I is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole to he
memory, which for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta del
Popolo, formerly, Porta Valetini. The greatest part of his relics are
now in the church of St. Praxedes. His name is celebrated as that of an
illustrious martyr in the sacramentary of St. Gregory, the Roman Missal
of Thomasius, in the calendar of F. Fronto and that of Allatius, in Bede,
Usuard, Ado, Notker and all other martyrologies on this day. To abolish
the heathens lewd superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of
girls, in honor of their goddess Februata Juno, on the fifteenth of this
month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in
billets given on this day.
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