A party held in honor of Lupercus was held February 15. The festival is celebrated as a spring festival. His schedule is different this time, with the fall from February to early spring.
One of the habits of young people was name-drawing. On the eve of the feast of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on separate sheets of paper and placed in bottles. Each couple drew a slip. The girl whose name was chosen was to be his sweetheart for the year?
Legend has it that the feast became Valentine's Day after a priest named Valentine. Valentine was a priest in Rome at the time when Christianity was a new religion. The emperor at that time, Claudius II ordered the Roman soldiers not to marry or commit.
Claudius believed that as married men, who want their soldiers to stay home with their families rather than fight their wars. Valentine defied the decree of the emperor and secretly married young couples. Finally, he was arrested, imprisoned and put to death.
Valentine was beheaded on February 14, the eve of the Roman Lupercalia festival. After his death, was named a saint Valentine. Rome became more Christian, the priests moved the celebration of spring on February 15 to 14 - Valentine's Day. Now the holiday in honor of Valentine instead of Lupercus.
But this is only one side of the story ...
Therefore, it was Valentine's Day and how it became associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
A legend says that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers with wives and families, which banned marriage for young men - his crop of potential soldiers.
Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been murdered for trying to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were beaten and tortured frequently.
According to one legend, Valentine sent the first 'Valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young man - could have been his jailer's daughter - who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, says he wrote his letter, signed "From your Valentine", a term that is still in use today.
Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. No wonder that in the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.
