Hearts ♥ Month

Each year on February 14th, people exchange gifts, love letters, chocolates, stuffed toys, flowers, promises of love, etc. But do we really know what this day means? We look forward for it till this day at the turn of calendar every year to show our loved ones how special they are and grateful we are for having them in our lives.

Let me take you to a journey where it all started ♥ Back to the 5th Century and way back more!

The day of romance is named for a Christian martyr, Saint Valentine of Rome. However, before it is called a Valentine’s Day, it originates from an ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia which is celebrated every 15th of February. It was February 15 or February 13-15, a period either proximate to or covering modern Valentine's Day. Because Lupercalia has some connection with fertility it is like an early version of a Valentine's Day holiday.  This was named for the naked male priest called Luperci. Lupercalia involved not only fertility, but also purification rituals, and was celebrated to honor a god the Romans themselves were unsure of, but who was called "Lupercus" by the Augustan era. The Luperci sacrificed a goat and possibly a dog, and offered sacred cakes. The Luperci donned goat skins or goat skin loincloths and ran through the streets of Rome striking people or just women with strips of goat to make them fertile. The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, coupled up for the duration of the festival — or longer, if the match was right.

Later, the ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine (Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni) — on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day. This is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them. A popular praise account of Saint Valentine of Rome states that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius. In addition to this, before his execution he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell.

Valentine of Rome - was a priest in Rome who was martyred about AD 496

 Valentine of Terni - became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197

Pope Gelasius I  (or Felix III - late 5th century) is thought by some to have turned the February 15 Lupercalia purification festivals into the festival of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.

This festival is however described in sometimes conflicting details which until this day, we don’t know. No one could specifically tell which god was celebrated, where its origin is and exactly how it was celebrated. Lupercalia is one of the most ancient of the Roman holidays listed on ancient calendars from even before the time Julius Caesar reformed the calendar. This however is familiar to us today for 2 main reasons:

♥ it is associated with Valentimes Day

♥ it is the setting for Caesar’s refusal of the crown that  was made immortal by Shakespeare, in his Julius Caesar.

                                ** As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in the middle ages.

                                ** Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World. The industrial revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began mass producing valentines.

February has not been the same since.

Sources:

By:  N.S. Gill (Ovid's Fasti, Adkins & Adkins' Dictionary or Roman Religion)

        Wikipedia

        Arnie Seipel

Wait there’s more!!! Thought you’ll be asking how CUPID came into the picture of the so-called
Valentine’s Day ♥

Cupid had absolutely nothing to do with any of that. Venus, the goddess of love, had a son and his name was Cupid. Cupid fell madly in love with a beautiful mortal woman whose name was Psyche whom later became his wife. Venus became insanely jealous and transformed into any lady’s worst nightmare of a mother-in-law. She forbade Psyche to glance at her handsome new husband. Psyche, of course, couldn’t resist, and Venus gave her three really hard tasks to complete as punishment. She died attempting to do the final one. Cupid was a bit distraught over his new wife’s death, so he brought her back to life. The other gods were amazed at the love shared between these two and granted Psyche immortal life.
 By Lisa Binion

Kahit san man naggaling ang tinatawag nating Valentine’s Day sa ngayon. Isa lang ibig sabihin nito. Ito ang nagpapaalala sa ating lahat kung gaano tayo minahal ng Diyos sa pamamagitan ng pag bibigay nya sa bawat isa sa atin ng taong makakasama natin sa pang habang buhay. Ating lasapin at damhin ang sarap ng pagmamahal. Masarap man, masakit, masaya, malungkot… ang Pagmamahal ang siyang bumubuhay satin sa tin’ sa araw-araw. Oh kay sarap mag MAHAL diba?

Happy Valentine’s Day ♥