Don’t mean to be a
spoilsport, But.
Just because a man
(Pope), covers this day with another holiday does not stop follower celebrating
their real holiday.
As a Spiritual
Teacher and follower of Creator my lord, this day is just another
day.
Because females
deserve all of their 'Special days possible', a few days before and a few days
after, makes two safe holidays?
What is the Feast of
Lupercalia?
Historians trace the origin of Valentine's Day to ancient Roman Empire.
It is said that in
the Rome of ancient times people observed a holiday on
February 14th to honor
Juno - the Queen of Roman Gods and Goddesses.
The Romans also
regarded Juno as the Goddess of Women and Marriage.
On the following
day, February 15th began the fertility festival called 'Feast of Lupercalia'.
The festival of
Lupercalia was celebrated to honor the Gods Lupercus and Faunus - the Roman God
of Agriculture besides the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
An interesting
custom was followed in the Feast of Lupercalia to bring together young boys and
girls who otherwise were strictly separated.
On the eve of the
festival names of young Roman girls were written on a slip of paper and placed
into jars.
Each young man drew
out a girl's name from the jar and was paired with the girl for the duration of
Lupercalia.
Sometime pairing
lasted for a year until next year's celebration.
Quite often, the
couple would fall in love with each other and later marry.
The custom lasted
for a long time until people felt that the custom was un-Christian and that
mates should be chosen by sight, not luck.
