| Valentines Day |
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 On 14 February we celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day, usually by the way
of exchanging cards, chocolate, flowers or jewellery. But what exactly
are we celebrating? We are following a Christian and ancient Roman
tradition, and celebrating a Christian Holiday, Saint Valentine's.For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual companion during the remaining year. In an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were allowed to draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes. The Christian Church recognizes three Saints by the name of Valentine, or Valentinus. |
