A lot of people like to believe the story of the kindly priest St. Valentine who was martyred for marrying young lovers.
I say, "Bah! Humbug!"
"Martyred" means stoned to death and then beheaded.
How romantic.
Valentine's Day had always been celebrated in ancient Rome, where February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno, the Queen of the Gods and the Goddess of women and marriage. It was the eve of the Feast of Lupercalia.
The names of Roman girls were put into a jar. Each young man would draw the girl's name who would be his partner for the duration of the festival. Sometimes the partnership would last the entire year and of course many of them fell in love and eventually married.
That is romantic.
The only thing the Roman couples didn't have was the Hallmark card.
So just forget the gory St. Valentine story. Ick.
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| Will you me mine? |
