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WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?

History of St. Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day
Is a wonderful way
To make "I love you"
Easy to say.

As early as the fourth century B.C., the Romans engaged in an annual young man's rite to passage to the God Lupercus, protector of the herd and crops. The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of the year, after which another lottery was staged. After eight hundred years of this cruel practice, the early church fathers sought to end this practice. They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred some two hundred years earlier.

The Roman Empire

According to church tradition St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 270 A.D. At that time the Roman Emperor Claudius II who had issued an edict forbidding marriage.

This was around when the heyday of Roman empire had almost come to an end. Lack of quality administrators led to frequent civil strife. Learning declined, taxation increased, and trade slumped to a low, precarious level. And the Gauls, Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongolians from Northern Europe and Asian increased their pressure on the empire's boundaries. The empire was grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. Thus more of capable men were required to be recruited as soldiers and officers. When Claudius became the emperor, he felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, will not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers, he banned marriage.

Valentine, a bishop, seeing the trauma of young lovers, met them in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this "friend of lovers," and had him arrested. 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 recognize Roman Gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully.

On February 24, 270, Valentine was executed.

"From Your Valentine"

While Valentine was in prison awaiting his fate, he came in contact with his jailor, Asterius. The jailor had a blind daughter. Asterius requested him to heal his daughter. Through his faith he miraculously restored the sight of Asterius' daughter. Just before his execution, he asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and signed a farewell message to her "From Your Valentine," a phrase that lived ever after.

Valentine thus become a Patron Saint, and spiritual overseer of an annual festival. The festival involved young Romans offering women they admired, and wished to court, handwritten greetings of affection on February 14. The greeting cards acquired St.Valentine's name.

The Valentine's Day card spread with Christianity, and is now celebrated all over the world. One of the earliest card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. The card is now preserved in the British Museum.
 

Source: Customs and Traditions Website

GLOSSARY

B.C.: Before Christ; before the Christian era (antes de Cristo)
engaged in
: occupied in, participated (participaban, se ocupaban de)
rite: religious ceremony or ritual (ritual)
herd: a group of cattle or sheep or other domestic mammals all of the same kind that are herded by humans (ganado)
crops: harvests, the yield from plants in a single growing season (cosechas)
the teenage women: adolescent women, being of the age 13 through 19 (las adolescentes)
drawn at random: chosen in a random manner (elegidas al azar)
was staged: was arranged (se preparaba)
sought to end: put an end to (pusieron fin a)
bishop: a clergyman having spiritual and administrative authority (obispo)
martyred: killed as a martyr (condenado a la muerte)
priest: clergyman (sacerdote)
A.D.: Anno Domini; in the Christian era, used before dates after the supposed year Christ was born (después de Cristo)
forbidding
: prohibiting officially (prohibiendo)
heyday: the period of greatest prosperity or productivity (apogeo)
come to an end: been finished (llegado a su fin)

lack of: absence of (la ausencia de)
led to
: resulted in (trajo como resultado)

strife: violence, disagreement, conflict (conflictos, desacuerdos)
learning declined: learning went down (se redujo el aprendizaje)
taxation increased: taxes went up (los impuestos subieron)
slumped: fell down (cayó)
boundaries: frontiers, borders, limits
(fronteras)
shielded: protected (protegido)
thus: therefore (por lo tanto)
recruited: hired (contratados, reclutados)
banned: prohibited, especially by legal means or social pressure (prohibió)
execution: putting a condemned person to death(ejecución)
fate: destiny (destino)
jailor: prison guard, someone who guards prisoners (carcelero)
blind: unable to see (ciega)
to heal: to cure (que curara)
a farewell message: a parting note (un mensaje de despedida)
ever after: for ever (por siempre)
wished to court: wished to make amorous advances (a quienes deseaban cortejar)
spread: extended (se extendió)
all over the world: worldwide (por todo el mundo)
preserved: well kept (conservada)

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