Western Kansas world., 1917-02-10


or saucy documents of lighter import like the
sugary rhymes of grandmothers' time nor the
nowers and gloves of today Instead they were
real human beings whom destiny paired for the
space of twelvemonth
1t was the duty of the Roman youth on the day
OF me feast of Lupercalia which. according to
ancient chroniclers, comedies with our St Valen-
tines day, TO repair to the Sacred urn in search
of sweetheart. In the were the names of
me maidens of the neiShborhood, written slips
of parchment The Roman youth never tboupht
of shrinking from the ordeal. ANY attempt on
his part TO go around by the back on his way
10 business or to spend the day the golf links
instead of doing his duty a man and a citizen
"ouid nave marked him out with no
sporting blood in his veins. So assuming, an air
OF gay indifference, he took his place in the line
called upon the gods for succor and bodiy
plunged his hand into the Sacred urn
Then like the historic Horner. he pulled out Iet
us nope not plum, but. in the modern language
of admiration peach If So his face lighted do
1ghtfully and he hurried out 10 buy an unusually
rich and varied assortment sacrifices for tbp
altar of Venus, Cupid and the rest of the really
important divinities. If. however fate had .,on.
against him and he had drawn an undesirable
maiden from the bowl, striking his clenched FIST
fercely upon his brow, he strobe in silence from
the place of doom.
But he never thought of t1emanding q Sooo,,,
helping. No, the gods had wfned it, and so If
was to be- He had acquired sweetheart for a
year. and he stuck by her until next St VaIen-
tines day gave him the opportunity to break the
engagement
1t the year 496 that pope Celastus
the feast of Lupercalia. which took place on
February u. decided that something would have
10 be done about it. As the youths the time
seemed to be strangely addicted to the practice
of pulling the names of young women out of the
Sacred it decided that it would not do
deprive them altogether of this playful diver
sion. Instead. they could he led by easy stares
away from the heathensh portent of the game.
So the leaders of the reform movement hit uDon
the scheme of permitting the Sacred per-
form on ITS usual day but the names of saints and
martyrs were substituted upon the papers which
the youths picked of this receptacle for those
of madens in the community. Then reasoned the
reform leaders, the youths could that the
saints whose names they drew were their
patron saints and could pattern their lives by
those of these worthy persons. This would be
quite as exciting as picking out the name of ones
next seasons girl.
And TO make the transformation of this day of
pagan rites into Il Christian festival complete. it
was decided by the reform element that the day
should henceforth be known st. Valentines
day and that it should he set February IA in
honor of the fact that in 27O D. the good bishop.
afterward 81 Valentine. was beheaded by the
prosecutors of the early Christians because he
had performed the remarkable miracle of making
his jaers blind daughter see.
The Day of Lovers
St Valentines day February IA indeed became
but. alas for human frailty. although the
changed. the spirit of the day remained as before
Down to our time is still the day of lovers
came out of the Sacred instead of those of the
pretty girls of old Rome powerless TO turn
the thoughts or young men away from love and
happiness toward self-sacrifice and piety The
ancient usages persisted and thus originated the
incongruous situation whereby ecclesiastic of
ascetic life and pious history has given his name
for all time to a festival devoted to the irnpas-
stoned sentiment of lovers.
In later days when valentines had come to he
delicate missives in which lovers expressed their
ardor in their verses. the duke of Orleans
of the many great personages who thought
the indting of valentine verses not too small
goal for his poetical ambitions 1t was after
Charles was taken prisoner at the battle of Agin-
court, 1415, that he did the greatest amount of
his valentine poetizing He composed the first
written valentine which exists As he was
prisoner of England for 25 years. he had plenty OF