St. Valentine’s day and its origins
February 8th, 2007Views:1230
St. Valentine’s Day has very ancient origins, which perhaps aren’t known by everybody. Everything began in the ancient Rome in February, which was considered propitious to the preparation for the coming of spring, so to the rebirth.
Among the Romans the rites of purification began in this month. They cleaned their houses, sprinkled salt and some particular flour and, towards the middle of the month, started celebrating ‘Lupercalia’ (gods, who kept wolves away from the flocks), with sacrifices of animals, whose blood was spread on the roads of the town in sign of fertility.
It also seems that the priests of Luperculus (‘Luperici’) proposed a ‘love lottery’ to the worshippers of the god to celebrate the favourable period. Some couples of men and women’s names were drawn by a child: they would live together on intimate terms the whole year, bringing to an end the rite of fertility.
With the coming of Christianity, the Fathers of the Church decided that practice was decidedly too licentious and instituted a patron saint of lovers.
St. Valentine (Terni 175 A.D. – 270 A.D.) was chosen: he devoted his life to the Christian community and was consecrated bishop in 197 A.D.
According to legend, St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers, because he was the first bishop to celebrate the marriage between a pagan legionary and a Christian woman. In any case, it’s documented that this saint particularly took care of lovers, who asked him for advice and blessing.
The accounts and the legends about St. Valentine are various and we don’t report them all, but, anyway, nowadays our society repropose St. Valentine’s Day as a special time for lovers.
Well, if you want, you will be able to celebrate it with some new and surely personal contents. We wish you could be in love not only one day a year, but you could get on well with your partners for a long time!!
