[Ravensfort] Mister Valentinus' Day Part One

[byzytym]

Greetings All,

Below is a reprint of an artical of mine 
that appeared in the Quoth a few years back.
I drag it out and dust it off every couple of years 
to give new comers a little historical background 
into the roots of today's celebration of love.
As the artical is too long to be sent in one post, 
I have divided it in to two.
I hope you enjoy it.

V NV

Mister Valentinus' Day

A Brief History Of Heavenly Amorous

Part One

By Marius Atreidae 

 

As with so many Christian traditions and heroes, the story of Saint Valentine is handed down to us as a muddy mess of miss-woven facts, fanciful fabrications and unanswered questions.  So much so, he is one of the unlucky outcast saints that the Roman Catholic Church de-canonized in 1969 for lack of credible evidence that they actually lived at all.  He's name does not appear on the earliest compilation of Roman martyrs in 354.

 

A long list of tortured souls are credited with various versions of the famous name, including a saintly female.  However, only two Italian martyrs have any significant association with the celebration of romance, sex and love that we will ritualize this month.  Some authorities believe that the two Saint Valentines are likely one in the same individual.  Both of these colorful rebels lived in the second half of the third century and died on the 14th day of February in 269 or 270.   Both are reported to have been buried on the Flaminian Consula Way but at different distances from the City of Rome.  Official interrogation reports of both saints are of a late date so have little, if any, historical value. 

The most popular belief is that Saint Valentinus was a third century Roman priest.  With the help of Saint Marius (no relation to author) he assisted the oppressed during the Christian persecutions of Claudius II (also called the Gaul).  Finding it difficult to recruit young men to leave their loved ones behind and join his military leagues for unpopular campaigns, Claudius II banned all weddings and engagements within the City of Rome.  Valentinus and Marius defied the ban by continuing to perform wedding ceremonies.  Nothing more is mentioned of Saint Marius, but one has to guess that he came to a bad end as it is mandatory for a saint to suffer for the faith.  We are told that Valentinus was dragged from his temple and arrested.  

Here, the story begins to blur with myth and accounts differ.  One has him languish in a dungeon till he dies and is buried in the Church of Saint Praxedes on February fourteenth.  Kind of dull as the death of Saints go and probably not true, as records show that the remains of Valentinus did not arrive in said church till a millennium later.

A second version has Valentinus imprisoned, but well liked by Emperor Claudius until he tries to convert him to Christianity and / or insults the Roman Gods.  Not having patience for such blaspheme, Claudius has him beaten with clubs, stoned and then beheaded on February fourteenth outside of the Flaminian Gate of Rome.  

A third telling has Valentinus thrown into prison where he falls in love with the jailer's blind daughter.  Ever the troublemaker, he continues to preach and cures the sightless girl, earning himself a death sentence.  Before his beheading, he sends a bright colored crocus plant and a farewell note to his love which he signs, "From your Valentine".  Far fetched, but such is the nature of saints.

 

The only other real candidate for the "true" Saint Valentinus was the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) who also lived during the reign of Emperor Claudius II.  Having aided the persecuted Christians and overseen the first marriage between a pagan and a Christian, he was scourged, imprisoned and beheaded on February fourteenth by the Roman Prefect of Interonma on the Via Flaminia and was quickly buried to prevent rioting. 

 

The assumption that the two Valentinus' were the same man obviously has some validity.  The theory is that a Roman priest became a Bishop in Interamna and was arrested there before being returned to Rome for execution.  A possible explanation for the two burial sites on the Flaminian Consula Way is the interment of his body and his severed head at different times by different Christian cults.  Again, the facts are slim and this is purely conjecture.

 

The ancient Flaminian Gate became known as the Porta Valentini and a small church was built in the immediate vicinity.  Pope Julius I (333-356) built a basilica at the site of the tomb which is now known as the Porta del Popolo.  In the thirteenth century most of Valentinus' supposed remains were transferred to the Church of Saint Praxedes where they remain today.  At least a portion of his relics were a gift to the Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin, Ireland from Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846).  The segments of Valentine's body that had been brought to the Church of Saint Peter of Melun in France have disappeared.

 

Over the years Saint Valentine has become the Patron Saint of love, lovers, travelers, greetings, young people, bee keepers (the birds and the bees ?), engaged couples, happy marriages, fainting, plague, people lost to the state government and epilepsy.  Yes, epilepsy.  This leads some to speculate that Valentine suffered from the disease himself or was a physician that healed the affliction.  He has been depicted as a bishop with a crippled or epileptic child at his feet.  He's also been represented as a Bishop with a rooster nearby, a Bishop refusing to adore an idol, a Bishop being beheaded, a priest bearing a sword, a priest holding a sun, a priest bestowing sight upon a blind girl, a priest barefoot holding a crocus and a Bishop in direct conversation with Jesus and Mary ( Magdalene ? ).  Of course most images of Saint Valentine picture him with a wide variety of plants, animals, birds and odd objects.  Decoding their meanings would take good reference books and many hours of devotion.

 

The origins of our modern mid-February frivolities of the flirtation lie in religious roots much older than Valentinus or Christianity itself.  The Roman Lupercalia was a festival of eroticism that honored Juno Februata, the goddess of "feverish" (febris) love.  On the ides of February lottery "billets" with the names of available women were drawn to partner couples for feasting and sexual game playing.  This must have been much like modern swingers dropping their keys into a hat, with religious fervor thrown in to encourage a whole hearted effort.  Christians have always been a dour bunch that frowns on such lascivious abandonment so the early clergy encouraged substituting the names of saints for the lottery.  One would pull the name of a saint, then study and attempt to emulate the saint for the following year.  Needless to say, this prudish version of Lupercalia was wildly unpopular and suffered a quick death. 
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