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Lupercalia took place on February 15th to honor Juno, the Roman goddess of women and marriage, and Pan, god of nature. Young men and women chose partners for the festival by drawing names randomly from a box. These partners exchanged gifts as a sign of affection, and often married. One of the Valentine martyrs was a priest who lived in Rome during the 200's. He was jailed for aiding persecuted Christians, and was beheaded by the Romans about 270 AD on Palantine Hill at the site of an ancient altar to Juno. His remains are buried in the church of St. Praxedes in Rome. The second St. Valentine suffered a similar fate. He was a bishop of Terni, about 60 miles from Rome. He was persecuted for converting a Roman family to Christianity, and was also beheaded in Roman, about 273 AD. In 496, Pope Gelasius changed Lupercalia festival to St. Valentine's Day to give Christian meaning to a pagan festival. The holiday become popular in the United States in the 1800's during the Civil War. |
Valentine's Day is
celebrated on February 14th as a festival of love and romance. While it
is named after two Christian martyrs named Valentine, the celebration is
actually patterned after a Roman pagan festival called Lupercalia.