The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-02-14
About st. Valentine.

AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF THE DAY
THAT IS CELEBRATED BY THE BOYS AND
GIRLS.
By Isabel Smithson.
In one of the principal squares of grand
old Rome, stands an ancient stone gate
way, known as the Porta del Popolo, or
Gate of the people. 1t is nearly sixteen
| hundred years old, and when first built
was named the Porta Valentine, or Valen-
tines Gate, because it led to the church of
st. Valentine. This seems to be strange
beginning for an account of the pretty fes-
tival of lace paper and spangles, and gay
lover 's-knots yet true, that to find out
the meaning of the little rhyme,
son the 18th of February fine,
take you for my Valentine
we must go to that ancient city which was
once the mistress Of nations, the queen of
the pagan world. In those earlier days
the last half of February was held as re-
ligious festival, and the fifteenth day, which
was dedicated to Juno the queen of Hea-
ven, and Pan the god of forests and
streams, was known as the Feast OF Juno
Februata One Of the customs was for
young men and maidens to meet, dressed
in their best, when each girls name would
be written down separately, and then all
these names were shaken well together in
box. Next, each young man drew out a
name. and to the girl who CHANGED to fall
to his lot he would give pretty presents and
offer himself as partner in the dancing and
feasting which followed. The reason for
fifteenth Of February, was that the birds
were supposed to choose their mates on
that day. In Italy Of course warm weather
begins much earlier than with us. This |
drawing of names was very amusing af-
fair, ard would have been a harmless one |
had not the merry-makings generally ended |
in rioting and drinking, as indeed all pa
gan festivities were nearly sure to do. So |
when Rome began to be christian city, |
the pastors Of the church did all they |
could to stop the festival, but they found |
this very difficult because the young |
people were devoted to it, and the drawing
of names was long continued even among
Christians. There were some changes
made, however. The day was called st.
Valentines, and the names drawn were
known as valentines. The date was also
afterwards altered from the fifteenth to
the fourteenth Of February.
st. Valentine himself, whose name is
now associated with pleasant surprises and
loving messages, was a faithful pastor of
the 'early Christians, = and lived IN Rome
during the third century. The pagan en-
peror, Claudius H., ordered that all per-
SONS ayowing themselves Christians should
be tortured and put to death, and Valen-
tine went about among his flock, cheering L
the frightened ones, praying with the dy-
ing, and burying the dead. For this he
was thrown into prison himself, and re-
fusing to become an idolator, was cru
ely beaten with clubs and then beheaded
on February 14th, which CHANGED to be the
eve of the, feast of Juno Februata-hence
the change of name and date of the pagan
festival land this is all the good brave old
man had to do with the custom still bear
ing his name.
In the seventeenth century the bishop of
Geneva, Francis Of Sales, put a final stop
to the practice Of drawing girls names on
st. Valentines Day, but allowed the peo-
pie instead to write the names of saints, or
holy men and women. on slips Of paper
and after drawing" these, try their best
to initiate the goodness and piety of the
owners OF the names. Thus the pagan
ceremony became Christian one.
The modern practice of sending poetic,l
messages on this day is very old one, and
it is hard to say just how and where it be-
gan. Chaucer, the first great English poet,
speaks of it in his works which were writ
ten in the fourteenth century, and
Shakespeare and many other poets mention
it,. The so called "comic" valentines are
of much later origin. yet let us hope not
an American invention, for they, are as
rule not funny at all, but only coarse and
ugly, and very apt to hurt the feelings OF
the receiver. In the time of Charles H.,
Scotland for friends to draw each others
names on st. Valentines Day, and give
presents as we do on birthdays. The first
person known to have sent written val
entine was Charles, Duke of Orleans, a
brave French nobleman, who was taken
prisoner by the English at the great bat
tie of Agincourt, in l4l5. Two hundred
years after, grand marriage was an Eng
ted on st. Valentines Day, when celerab-
lish princess, Elizabeth. daughter of James
l., was welded to Frederick a German
prince, and to this union is due the strange
fact of the daughter of a German family
being to-day on the throne of England.
This wedding was written Of by many
poets and one named DOune in particular
composed a pretty poem about it, the first
verse of which was:
"Hail, Bishop Valentine, whose day this is!
All the air is thy diocese;