Thursday, February 14, 2008

Tales about why we celebrate Valentine's Day

There are actually three Valentine who were martyred on February 14. It remained a Church holiday until 1969, when Pope Paul VI took it from the calender.

Tale 1:
During the Roman Empire, the Caesar decided to ban single men from getting married, in the need to hire more soldier in the battle field. He thinks that a man with family will most likely reluctant to enroll in the army. A priest name Valentine disagreed with this rule, so he secretly marrying single men and their lovers. His action was discovered and he was executed. He act of unifying the couples had made Valentine's day as the day to celebrate love.

Tale 2:
A man named Valentine was in prison after helping the escape of some Christians during the Roman Empire. While in jail, a girl, probably the daughter of the guardian, began to visit him. He fell in love with the girl. Before the execution, he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine", a signature that is widely used for couple until today.

Tale 3:
On February 14, the ancient Romans celebrated the Feast of Lupercalia in honor of Juno, the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses. Juno was also the goddess of women and marriage so honoring her was thought to be a fertility rite. At the feast held the next day, the women would write love letters and stick them in a large urn. The men would pick a letter from the urn and for the next year, pursue the woman who wrote the chosen letter. This custom lasted until the 1700s when people decided their beloveds should be chosen by sight, not luck.

The goddess Juno

The American movie Juno


So what do you do for Valentine's day? You can bring your love one to the movie "Juno", it was a good laugh for us. As for myself, I prepared a card to my Lao Gong (hubby). You won't want to know what is inside. :-)

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