As early as the fourth century B.C., the Romans engaged in an annual young man's rite to passage to the God Lupercus. The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of the year after which another lottery was staged.

After eight hundred years of this cruel practice, the early church fathers sought to end this... They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred some two hundred years earlier. According to church tradition St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 270 A.D.

At that time the Roman Emperor was Claudius II, who had issued an edict forbidding marriage. This was when the height of the Roman empire had almost come to an end. Lack of quality administrators led to frequent civil strife. Learning declined, taxation increased, and trade slumped to a low, precarious level.

The Gauls, Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongolians from Northern Europe and Asian increased pressure on the empire's boundaries. The empire had grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. Thus more of capable men were required to be recruited as soldiers and officers.

When Claudius became the emperor, he felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, would not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers, he banned marriage.

Valentine, a bishop , seeing the trauma of young lovers, met them in a secret place, and joined them in matrimony. Claudius learned of this "friend of lovers," and had him arrested.

The emperor, impressed with the young priest's dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the Roman gods, to save him from certain execution. He refused to recognize Roman gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences. On February 24, 270, Valentine was executed.

"FROM YOUR VALENTINE"

While Valentine was in prison awaiting his fate, he became acquaitned with his jailor, Asterius. The jailor had a blind daughter. Asterius requested him to heal his daughter. Through his faith he miraculously restored the sight of Asterius' daughter. Just before his execution, he asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and signed a farewell message to her

"From Your Valentine,"

a phrase that lived ever after. Valentine thus become a Patron Saint, and the spiritual overseer of an annual festival.

The festival involved young Romans offering women they admired, and wished to court, handwritten greetings of affection on February 14. The greeting cards acquired Valentine's name.

THE VALENTINE'S DAY CARD

The Valentine's Day card spread with Christianity, and is now celebrated all over the world. One of the earliest cards was sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London.

Valentine's Day is now in our present day, a holiday honoring romance. It is celebrated on February 14, and it is customary to send greeting cards in the shape of hearts, flowers or candy to express affection. The modern day celebration of card giving probably sprang from the 14th century when the tradition began with young persons in France and England. They would get together on Valentine's Eve . Names were placed in a box and each person drew a name and became that person's Valentine.

The modern Valentine's Day probably appeared around 1668. At that time paper valentines became popular. By 1880 hand-painted copperplates were brought into production to meet demands. These were followed later by woodcuts or lithographs.
They are believed to be the first greeting cards.

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