The document discusses the origins and history of celebrating St. Valentine's Day. It finds no evidence linking it to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. The celebration of St. Valentine did not have romantic connotations until the 14th century. Pope Gelasius I abolished Lupercalia but there is no evidence he intended to replace it with a celebration related to romantic love.
The document discusses the origins and history of celebrating St. Valentine's Day. It finds no evidence linking it to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. The celebration of St. Valentine did not have romantic connotations until the 14th century. Pope Gelasius I abolished Lupercalia but there is no evidence he intended to replace it with a celebration related to romantic love.
The document discusses the origins and history of celebrating St. Valentine's Day. It finds no evidence linking it to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. The celebration of St. Valentine did not have romantic connotations until the 14th century. Pope Gelasius I abolished Lupercalia but there is no evidence he intended to replace it with a celebration related to romantic love.
The document discusses the origins and history of celebrating St. Valentine's Day. It finds no evidence linking it to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. The celebration of St. Valentine did not have romantic connotations until the 14th century. Pope Gelasius I abolished Lupercalia but there is no evidence he intended to replace it with a celebration related to romantic love.
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Connection with romantic love
Possible ancient origins
No evidence has been demonstrated to link St. Valentine's Day and the rites of the ancient Roman purification festival of Lupercalia, despite persistent and sometimes detailed claims by many authors to the contrary, nor to any otherwise unspecified Greco-Roman holiday supposed to have celebrated love or fertility.[notes 1][24][49][50] The celebration of Saint Valentine is not known to have had any romantic connotations until Chaucer's poetry about "Valentine's Day" in the 14th century, some seven hundred years after celebration of Lupercalia is believed to have ceased. [30] In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia was observed February 13–15. It was a rite connected to purification and health, and had only slight connection to fertility (as a part of health) and none to love. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier" or "the chaste Juno", was celebrated on February 13–14. Pope Gelasius I (492–496) abolished Lupercalia. Some researchers have theorized that Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with the celebration of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and claim a connection to the 14th century's connotations of romantic love, but there is no historical indication that he ever intended such a thing.[notes 2][50][51] Also, the dates do not fit because at the time of Gelasius I, the feast was only celebrated in Jerusalem, and it was on February 14 only because Jerusalem placed the Nativity of Jesus (Christmas) on January 6.[notes 3] Although it was called "Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary", it also dealt with the presentation of Jesus at the temple. [52] Jerusalem's Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary on February 14 became the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple on February 2 as it was introduced to Rome and other places in the sixth century, after Gelasius I's time.[52] Alban Butler in his The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints (1756–1759) claimed without proof that men and women in Lupercalia drew names from a jar to make couples, and that modern Valentine's letters originated from this custom. In reality, this practice originated in the Middle Ages, with no link to Lupercalia, with men drawing the names of girls at random to couple with them. This custom was combated by priests, for example by Frances de Sales around 1600, apparently by replacing it with a religious custom of girls drawing the names of apostles from the altar. However, this religious custom is recorded as soon as the 13th century in the life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, so it could have a different origin.[24]
