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Cupid
Today February 14 is Valentines’ day or more accurately St. Valentine’s day! A log of candy, flowers and gifts will change hand today all because it is a celebration of this one mysterious “saint”. Even in the Catholic church in Sikatuna, Quezon City, Philippines a traditional Latin Mass will be held.
But who was this “St Valentine” and what is the basis for such a celebration? According to the Catholic Encyclopedia at the website newadvent.org, there are at least 3 different St Valentines! Sadly no tangible historical record of these three can be found, meaning these stories are probably legends or as Catholic call them, “traditions” or simply stories passed on. But what we do know with absolute certainty is the fact that these three are not mentioned in the bible and neither is their celebration. Two of the three lived and died in the second half of the third century while the third was at a much later period. The holiday was supposedly established by the Roman Pope Gelasius I in AD 496, definitely not of Christian or apostolic origin.
Faunus as depicted by the sculpter Bartolomeo Ammanati.
According to history.com, the legends contends that a priest named Valentine served in third century Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II who decided that single men made better soldiers and so outlawed marriage for young men! Claudius supposedly executed Valentine because the latter would not stop performing marriages. According to another legend, Valentine sent the first “valentine” card while in prison, to a young girl he fell in love with. In either case, none of these stories are ever written in the bible or attested to by the Apostles and yet this “St Valentine” apparently commands religious respect from Roman Catholics that they dedicated a mass to him.
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But what is the origin of Valentines Day? History.com com again states taht the celebration was based on the pagan Lupercalia festival. Lupercalia was the fertility festival of pagan Rome which was observed on February 15 and dedicated to Faunus, the pagan god of agriculture.
And there you go, another pagan holiday celebrated by Catholics all over the world. Ask yourself this: would you allow yourself to practice a pagan holiday when you’re supposed to be Christian?
