WHO IS SAINT VALENTINE AND WHY DO WE GIVE LOVE NOTES ON FEBRUARY 14TH?
” In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honor Juno, the Goddess of women and marriage. Juno was also the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia. Young boys and girls lived strictly separated. However, on the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man drew a girl’s name from the jar and would then be partnered with her for the duration of the festival. The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome tried to end the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of the girls. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors chose Saint Valentine’s Day for the celebration of this new feast. So it seems that the custom of young men choosing girls for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way. Legend has it that the Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved
