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MistressDREAD -> HAPPY LUPERCALIA! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! Do You know what Your Celebrating? (2/14/2005 4:16:28 AM)
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[:D]HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERY BODY![:D] (kiss a frog today!)[;)]
quote:
THE HISTORY OF VALENTINE'S DAY
Valentines Day started during the rule of Emperor Claudius II. Rome had been involved in many bloody and unpopular wars. Claudius the Cruel, as he was known, was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join the military. He believed the reason was because Roman men didn't want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius canceled all marriages and engagements in Rome.
There was a Christian priest named Valentine who defended love in the empire. Valentine began to secretly marry couples despite the Emperor's orders. When Emperor Claudius was informed of these ceremonies, Valentine was sent to prison where he remained until his death on February 14 in the year 270.
It wasn't until hundreds of years later that Valentine's Day began to develop as we know it. At the time of Valentine's death, Christianity was beginning to take control of Europe. The Church sought to do away with pagan holidays. Valentine's Day came to replace a mid-February fertility festival called Lupercalia. In honor of his sacrifice for love, Valentine was made a saint and Lupercalia renamed in his honor.
Today, the tradition of honoring St. Valentine continues. The themes of love and fertility taken from the ancient meanings of the holiday have endured and evolved into today's contemporary theme.
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