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| Saint Valentine's Day |
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| Festive Holiday celebrated every February 14 |
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| Origin of Saint Valentine's Day |
| The holiday of Valentine's Day probably derives its origin 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 on February 15. The festival was celebrated as a spring festival. Their calendar 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 the 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 the 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 when Christianity was a new religion. Claudius II who was the Emperor at the time, ordered the Roman Soldiers not to marry nor become engaged. Claudius II believed that as married men, his soldiers would want to stay home with their families rather than fight his wars to defend their nation. Valentine defied the Emperor's decree and secretly held marriage ceremonies and married many young couples. He was eventually arrested, placed in jail and sentenced to death. On the eve of the Roman holiday Lupercalia, which was February 14, 269 A.D., Valentine was beheaded. As Rome became Christianized, Valentine was named a saint. Lupercalia was moved from February 15th to February 14th honoring Saint Valentine instead of Lupercalia or Lupercus. |
| The Legend of Saint Valentine |
Valentine's Day begins in the third century with an oppressive Roman emperor and a humble Christian martyr. The emperor was Claudius II Gothicus. The Christian was Valentinus.
Claudius had ordered all Romans to worship state religion's idols, and he had made it a crime punishable by death to associate with Christians. But Valentinus was dedicated to the ideals of Christ, and not even the threat of death could keep him from practicing his beliefs. During the last weeks of Valentinus's life a remarkable thing happened. One day a jailer for the Emperor of Rome knocked at Valentinus's door clutching his blind daughter in his arms. He had learned of Valentinus's medical and spiritual healing abilities, and appealed to Valentinus to treat his daughter's blindness. She had been blind since birth. Valentinus knew that her condition would be difficult to treat but he gave the man his word he would do his best. The little girl was examined, given an ointment for her eyes and a series of re-visits were scheduled.
Seeing that he was a man of learning, the jailer asked whether his daughter, Julia, might also be brought to Valentinus for lessons. Julia was a pretty young girl with a quick mind. Valentinus read stories of Rome's history to her. He described the world of nature to her. He taught her arithmetic and told her about GOD. She saw the world through his eyes, trusted in his wisdom, and found comfort in his quiet strength.
"Valentinus, does GOD really hear our prayers?" Julia said one day. "Yes, my child, He hears each one, "he replied.
"Do you know what I pray for every morning and every night? I pray that I might see. I want so much to see everything you've told me about!"
"GOD does what is best for us if we will believe in HIM," Valentinus said. "Oh, Valentinus, I do believe," Julia said intensely. "I do." She knelt and grasped his hand. They sat quietly together, each praying.
Several weeks passed and the girl's sight was not restored. Yet the man and his daughter never wavered in their faith and returned each week.
Then one day, Valentinus received a visit from Roman soldiers who arrested him, destroyed his medicines and admonished him for his religious beliefs. When the little girl's father learned of his arrest and imprisonment, he wanted to intervene but there was nothing he could do.
On the eve of his death, Valentinus wrote a last note to Julia - knowing his execution was imminent. Valentinus asked the jailer for a paper, pen and ink. He quickly jotted a farewell note and handed it to the jailer to give to his blind daughter. He urged her to stay close to GOD, and he signed it "From Your Valentine." His sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 269 A.D., near a gate that was later named Porta Valentini in his memory.
When the jailer went home, he was greeted by his little girl. The little girl opened the note and discovered a yellow crocus inside. The message said, "From your Valentine." As the little girl looked down upon the crocus that spilled into her palm she saw brilliant colors for the first time in her life! The girl's eyesight was restored! A miracle!
He was buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome. It is said that Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship. In 496 Pope Gelasius I named February 14 as Saint Valentine's Day. On each Valentine's Day, messages of affection, love and devotion are still exchanged around the world.
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| Narration from Saint Valentine |
| Let me introduce myself, my name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the first century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an Emperor named Claudius II. I didn't like Emperor Claudius II and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings. Claudius II wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius II furious. So, what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius II decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought that his new law was cruel. I thought it was prepostorous! I certainly was not going to support that law! Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Claudius II passed this law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies--secretly of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candle lit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of the soldiers. One night we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death. I tried to stay cheerful and do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love. One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day, I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine" I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius II they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love. |
Cupid  The most famous symbol of Valentine's Day |
In ancient days, he was known as the young son of
Aphrodite-the goddess of love and beauty. To the
Roman's he was Cupid and his mother Venus. Cupid was called and known as Eros.
One legend tells the story of Cupid and the mortal
maiden named Psyche. Venus, the mother of Cupid, was jealous of the beauty of Psyche, and ordered Cupid to punish the mortal. But, instead Cupid fell deeply in love with Psyche and married her. As a mortal,
Psyche was forbidden to look at Cupid. Psyche was
happy until her sister's convinced her to look at
Cupid. Cupid punished Psyche, by departing and their lovely gardens and castle vanished with him. Psyche
found herself all alone in an open field. As Psyche
wandered to find her love, she found the temple of
Venus.
Venus, wishing to destroy Psyche, gave Psyche a
series of tasks, each task, more difficult than the
previous task. For the last task, Venus gave Psyche
a small box and told Psyche to take the small box to
the underworld. Psyche was ordered by Venus to take
the beauty of Proserpine, the wife of Pluto and put
her beauty in the box.
During Psyche's trip, she was given tips on avoiding
the realm of the dead and was warned not to open the
box. Temptation overcame Psyche, and when she opened the box, instead of finding beauty, she found deadly
slumber.
Cupid found Psyche's lifeless body on the ground. He gathered the sleep from Psyche's body and put it back in the box. Cupid forgave her, as did Venus and the
gods moved by Psyche's love for Cupid, made her a
goddess.
Home Video for Valentine's Day  
Family Circus - A Special
Valentine
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