This is the exact Valentine's Day Message as sent to our mailing list at Good Works On Earth.
Good Works On Earth Home Page: Archive: Message #100
Date: Feb 11 2000 09:41:15 EST
From: Good Works On Earth
Subject: Valentine's Day - The Story
Greetings from Good Works On Earth
We received this story below today.
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Subject:
How Valentine's Day began
ST. VALENTINE'S DAY - How It All Began
The story of Valentine's Day begins in the third century with an
oppressive Roman emperor and a humble Christian martyr. The
emperor was Claudius II Gothicus. The Christian was Valentinus.
Claudius had ordered all Romans to worship the state religion's
idols, and he had made it a crime punishable by death to associate
with Christians.
But Valentinus was dedicated to the ideals of Christ, and not even
the threat of death could keep him from practicing his beliefs.
During the last weeks of Valentinus's life a remarkable thing
happened. One day a jailer for the Emperor of Rome knocked at
Valentinus's door clutching his blind daughter in his arms. He had
learned of Valentinus's medical and spiritual healing abilities, and
appealed to Valentinus to treat his daughter's blindness. She had
been blind since birth.
Valentinus knew her condition would be difficult to treat but he gave
the manhis word he would do his best. The little girl was examined,
given an ointment for her eyes and a series of re-visits were scheduled.
Seeing that he was a man of learning, the jailer asked whether his
daughter, Julia, might also be brought to Valentinus for lessons.
Julia was a pretty young girl with a quick mind. Valentinus read
stories of Rome's history to her. He described the world of nature
to her. He taught her arithmetic and told her about God. She saw
the world through his eyes, trusted in his wisdom, and found
comfort in his quiet strength.
'Valentinus, does God really hear our prayers?' Julia said one day.
'Yes, my child, He hears each one, 'he replied.
'Do you know what I pray for every morning and every night?
I pray that I might see. I want so much to see everything you've
told me about!'
'God does what is best for us if we will believe in Him,' Valentinus
said.
'Oh, Valentinus,
I do believe,' Julia said intensely. 'I do.' She
knelt
and grasped his hand. They sat quietly together, each praying.
Several
weeks passed and the girl's sight was not restored. Yet the
man and
his daughter never wavered in their faith and returned each
week.
Then one
day, Valentinus received a visit from Roman soldiers who
arrested
him, destroyed his medicines and admonished him for his
religious
beliefs. When the little girl's father learned of his arrest
and
imprisonment,
he wanted to intervene but there was nothing he could do.
On the
eve of his death, Valentinus wrote a last note to Julia -
knowing
his execution was imminent. Valentinus asked the jailer
for a
paper, pen and ink. He quickly jotted a farewell note and
handed
it to the jailer to give to his blind daughter. He urged her
to stay
close to God, and he signed it 'From Your Valentine.' His
sentence
was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 AD, near
a gate
that was later named Porta Valentini in his memory.
When the
jailer went home, he was greeted by his little girl. The
little
girl opened the note and discovered a yellow crocus inside.
The message
said, 'From your Valentine.' As the little girl looked
down upon
the crocus that spilled into her palm she saw brilliant
colors
for the first time in her life! The girl's eyesight was restored!
A miracle!
He was
buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome. It
is said
that Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near
his grave.
Today,
the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and
friendship.
In 496 Pope Gelasius I named February 14 as Saint
Valentine's
Day. On each Valentine's Day, messages of affection,
love and
devotion are still exchanged around the world.
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The following information was sent to us on February 12, 2004:
The Roman Catholic Church counts at least eight saints by the name of
Valentine, three of them having February 14 as their feast day. Several
of the stories goes like this: The Roman emperor Claudius II decreed
that soldiers could not marry. Around 269 AD, a certain priest or bishop
named Valentine defiantly began marrying couples in secret (by some accounts,
he banned marriage altogether). This of course did not sit well with Claudius,
who had the saint beheaded.
Another tale tells us of a perhaps different Valentine who was seized
by authorities during one of the periodic Roman persecutions of Christians.
He developed a reputation, while in prison, for great wisdom in counseling
the young, especially in matters of the heart. Further, he is said to have
healed the blind daughter of the jailor -- and fell in love with the girl
as well. Valentine, before he was executed, wrote and passed a short note
on to her that read: 'With love, from your Valentine'. This was the first
'Valentine.'
Valentine was said to have been beheaded on February 14th, on the eve
of the all important Roman festival called the Lupercalia. This was virtually
an erotic carnival, one of the most ancient Roman festivals, which was
celebrated every year in honour of Lupercus, the god of fertility.
The festival was held every year, on the 15th of February, and goes back
to the origins of the Romans as a shepherding people. The rituals involved
the sacrifice of goats (proverbial for their sexual energy) by noble young
men (ditto) who then ate and drank heavily, clad themselves scantily in
the goat skins, from which they also cut long, thin strips. Holding these
thongs in their hands, they ran through the streets of the city, touching
everyone they saw, especially women, who used to gather voluntarily for
the purpose,
since they believed that this ceremony rendered them more fruitful,
and procured them an easy delivery in childbearing. The goat-skin itself
was called februum.
The second day of the Lupercalia celebrations was sacred to the Goddess
Juno Februata, Juno the Fructifier (some derive the title from febris,
'of the fever [of love]'). On this day, more sedate Roman youths, not interested
in being involved in the lupercalian ceremonies, drew names of young ladies
who were to be their romantic/sexual partners for that evening, (sometimes
the couples thus chosen would continue this patnership for the remainder
of the year).
Although the lottery for sexual partners had been banned by the church
as 'heathen', the mid-February holiday celebration continued. The
church, unable to stop the practice so enjoyed by young men and women,
searched for a suitable substitute saint to patronize the day. So, Saint
Valentine was to become the chosen saint.
Thus, it became a tradition to give the beloved and admired one handwritten
messages of enamored and romantic intention, containing St. Valentine's
named inscribed within. This served a double purpose, for to draw the name
of a saint would require that the man or woman would have to emulate
that saint's celibate qualities for at least one year. And instead of honoring
a 'pagan' God or Goddess, St. Valentine, a Christian icon, was honored
instead. In this way the Church sought a way to contain all the youthful
erotic energy within the bounds of right-thinking saints' cults. (Yeah,
right :-)) Of course, there is a long history of baptizing pre-Christian
practices; St. Gregory the Great advised his missionary to the pagan English,
Saint Augustine of Kent, not to destroy the pagan temples, but to 'go to
the fanes' so that the converts 'can assemble at the places which they
are accustomed to come to.'
In the middle ages, folklore held that birds gathered on February 14
to choose their mates for the year. Certain birds, swans and doves or pigeons,
for example, mate for life, and were special symbols of romantic devotion.
Chaucer's 'Parliament of Fowls' takes place on St. Valentine's day. This
was before the separation of the words 'bride' (meaning a young woman rather
than a woman getting married) and 'bird' (which still means 'girl' in somewhat
dated and rude British slang). The belief that birds chose their mates
on Saint Valentine's Day came to America with the colonists and lasted
throughout the nineteenth century in the Ozark hill country, where the
people thought not only birds but rabbits began their mating season on
February 14.
Valentines as we know them were first created by the French Duke of
Orleans, Charles. They were termed 'amorous addresses.' At the end of the
Battle of Agincourt in 1415, Charles was locked up in the Tower of London
where in his free time he sent these 'addresses' to his wife.
Happy Valentine's Day
Experience the Star Art of ROMANCE
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The address of this page is :
http://www.goodworksonearth.org/saintvalentinus.html
Page Title : Happy Valentine's Day - How it all began
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