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Valentine's Day as we know it is a time for love and celebration between couples. But the story behind the festival is quite different to what you might think.
The festival of romance and love may have Pagan origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a fertility festival that took place in February and involved animal sacrifice, whipping women, and matchmaking. Not quite the romantic festival we think of today.
Lupercalia, Roman festival of Fertility
Lupercalia was an ancient Roman festival observed on February 15th to promote health and fertility. During this festival, men randomly chose a woman’s name from a jar to be coupled with them for the duration of the festival. Often, the couple stayed together until the following year’s festival. Many fell in love and married.
The festival's elements of fertility and romance may have made it a good fit for honouring a saint who supposedly married couples in secret.
St. Valentine
St. Valentine secretly married couples in discrete locations so that the Roman soldiers wouldn't find out. He put his life at risk to help unite men and women in marriage so that men didn't have to go away to war. He did this for years, all hidden from the eye of Emperor Claudius. When the Emperor found out, Valentine was put in prison. There, he fell in love with a maid girl and passed notes to each other that said 'From Anonymous' to keep it a secret. The Emperor demanded that Valentine recant his beliefs and become a loyal Roman citizen. He refused and was put to death.
How Lupercalia became Valentine's Day
As Christianity swept across the world, many Pagan traditions were absorbed and adapted into the Christian faith. Pope Gelasius banned Lupercalia in the late 5th century, and then the Catholic church declared February 14th to be a day to celebrate the martyred Saint Valentine, said to have been executed on 14th February 269AD.
Pagan traditions
Pagan roots are still evident in Valentine's Day as we know it today, such as images of Cupid - the Roman god of love and desire - and especially with Valentine's cards as depicted in the story of St. Valentine.
