st, valentine.

mez · 07-02-2007, 19:19

around the year 2050 ad the roman emporer claudius wanted a bigger army...so in his wisdom he decreed that the army be made up of young single men, he therefore stopped his young soldiers from getting married, but ...there was a priest called valentine who dissagreed with all this stupid nonsense & married the young soldiers in secret........one time just as he had finished marrying a young couple they heard footsteps outside ......the young newlyweds escaped...not so father valentine....he was taken to prison for dissobeying claudius, he had many visitors most of whom he had married in secret ,,,,,,the jailer's daughter was a frequent visitor & sat with valentine & kept his spirits up,,,,,,,,,,,,the day came when valentine was beheaded for his "crime". now the jailers daughter went into valentine's cell & found a note he had left her it was signed ..."with love your valentine"

now that is how we became to have valentine's day.

just thought i would pass this information on to you all as i have just become aware of it .was told by an elderly friend of mine ....have checked on the t/ternet true boys & girls ......so true .

LancYorkYankee · 07-02-2007, 19:26

Thanks for sharing that Mez! And all this time I had thought the Hallmark card company had made the holiday up to sell cards! I hope Cinnyose doesn't read the story. I'd have to then get out and do the flowers, chocolates, card thing

.

You ladies really don't know the pressure this bloody holiday puts on the blokes.

IMHO!

Brian

panther · 07-02-2007, 19:51

soppy sods

SPUGGIE J · 07-02-2007, 21:16

First things first get the right emperor as there were 2 Claudius's

Claudius (41-54 A.D.)
Marcus Aurelius Claudius Augustus Gothicus (May 10, 213/214 - January, 270),

Now I do a runner to sve my jewelrey :O

Marcus Aurelius Claudius Augustus Gothicus (May 10, 213/214 - January, 270), more often referred to as Claudius II, was a Roman Emperor. He ruled the Roman Empire for less than two years (268 - 270), but during that brief time he managed to obtain some successes. He was later given divine status.

The Story of Valentines

Valentine's Day. Did you ever wonder about the who and the why of this romantic holiday? Who was this person called St. Valentine? And why, if he was a saint and a devoted religious figure, did he come to be associated with a celebration of amore`, lovers and Cupid?

In the 20th century we celebrate February 14th with the exhange of candy and cards. Children give out cute little heart-shaped greetings that proclaim their affection for classmates and teachers. Today's valentine cards are graced with the likes of Scooby Doo, Spider Man, Winnie the Pooh and, of course, Cupid! But in 5th century Rome, where the whole business allegedly began, it was a different story. On February 15th the festival of Lupercalia was celebrated to ensure protection from wolves. The celebration paid homage the gods Faunus and Lupercus, as well as the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. According to myth, Romulus and Remus were suckled by wolves at a cave on the Palatine Hill, in the city of Rome. The Romans appropriately named this cave the Lupercal, and used it as the center of Lupercalia ceremonies. Young men called Luperci(priests) were reported to have struck people with strips of animal hide. Women accepted the blows because they felt that this whipping would increase their fertility.

In the Roman society a young man's rite of passage was celebrated with this pagan celebration to the god Lupercus. As time went on Lupercalia began to be celebrated with a lottery in which the young men would draw the names of the teenage gals from a box. The lucky, or not so lucky, girl would then be the fellow's sexual partner during the remaining year. Often the lady would receive a gift or a greeting in the name of Juno, a Roman goddess.

Okay, and what about St. Valentine? Although many scholars agree that Lupercalia was moved from Feb. 15th to the 14th and was Christianized by associating it with this St. Valentine character, it is still unclear just who the historical St. Valentine was. One school of thought believes that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Legend has it that through the vehicle of his strong faith he healed the blind daughter of his jailer, and then, before his execution, sent her a farewell note signed "From Your Valentine." Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a temple priest, who was jailed for defiance, about the year A.D. 269, during the reign of Claudius the Goth. Emporer Claudius was having trouble recruiting strong young men for his army and believed that marriage was the culprit. He believed it made the men weak. This St. Valentine was said to have performed many secret marriages of young lovers, despite an edict that marriage was illegal. When Claudius first heard about Valentine he tried to convert him to his paganism. In turn Valentine attempted to convert Claudius to Christianity. When his effort failed the poor fellow was stoned and beheaded! Whoever he was, we know he was an actual person because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to a Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom. In an effort to do away with the harsh pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box would now contain the names of saints. Both the guys and the gals were allowed to draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. This was not too exciting for many of those Roman men! Now, instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church desired to find a suitable patron saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in the nobel St. Valentine.

chav1 · 07-02-2007, 21:20

i thought valentines day was invented by the rayal mail

mez · 07-02-2007, 21:37

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

i just shortened this version

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Lolly · 07-02-2007, 21:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by mez

around the year 2050 ad the roman emporer claudius wanted a bigger army....

The year 2050 you'd have a job.... lol

I'm sure you meant 250 AD. Your version Mez, is the version i've always been lead to believe is true.

Although its just Hallmark keeping it going now..