The Story of Valentine's Day

The holiday of Valentine's Day probably derives it's origins from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia.
In the early days of Rome, fierce wolves roamed the
woods nearby. The Romans called upon one of their
gods, Lupercus, to keep the wolves away. A festival
held in honor of Lupercus was celebrated February 15th.
The festival was celebrated as a spring festival. Their calender was different at that time, with February
falling in early springtime.

One of the customs of the young people was name-drawing. 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 slip.
The girl whose name was chosen was to be his
sweetheart for the year

Legend has it that the holiday became Valentine's Day after a priest named Valentine. Valentine was a priest
in Rome at the time Christianity was a new religion.
The Emperor at that time, Claudius II, ordered the
Roman soldiers NOT to marry or become engaged. Claudius believed that as married men, his soldiers
would want to stay home with their families rather
than fight his wars. Valentine defied the Emperor's
decree and secretly married the young couples. He was eventually arrested, imprisioned, and put to death

Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve of the
Roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death, Valentine
was named a saint. As Rome became more Christian,
the priests moved the spring holiday from the 15th of February to the 14th - Valentine's Day. Now the holday honored Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus

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