Valentine’s Day

As early as the 4th century BC, the Romans engaged in a young man’s rite of passage during the Feast of Lupercalia. On the eve of this festival, February 14, each young man would draw from a jar the name of a Roman girl to whom he would be partnered for the remainder of the festival. Many of the couples thrown together would eventually fall in love and later marry.

This practice continued for eight hundred years, until early church fathers sought to replace the Roman deity Lupercus with a patron saint of lovers. Valentine, a bishop martyred almost two hundred years earlier, was the perfect choice.

Under the reign of Emperor Claudius II, all weddings and engagements had been cancelled in an effort to boost military numbers. Claudius II figured that without a wife or sweetheart to leave behind, men would be more willing to fight. Valentine disagreed however and continued to conduct marriage services in secret. He became known as the ‘friend of lovers’ but was found out and condemned to death.

Whilst awaiting his fate, Valentine is said to have fallen in love with the daughter of the gaoler. He wrote her a farewell note signed “From your Valentine”, thus beginning a lasting tradition. His punishment was carried out on February 14, 270 AD.