St. Valentine's Day

Cordoba, Friday February 14th

St. Valentine's Day

St. Valentine’s Day falls on 14th February and is a day when people send cards, flowers or gifts to the person they love or to their friends. But who was St. Valentine?
The most popular idea is that he was a priest who lived in third century Rome. At the time, the Emperor, Claudius II, banned marriage to make better soldiers. Valentine was against the idea and he secretly married couples until he was discovered and condemned to death. St. Valentine died on 14th February, 270 A.D.
As often happens, the Christian celebration has links with a previous pagan celebration.
In Ancient Rome, February 15th was the Feast of Lupercalia. On the eve of the festival, the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed in jars. Each young man would draw a girl’s name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of
the festival with the girl whom he had chosen. Sometimes, these pairings led to love and, eventually, to marriage. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I turned Lupercalia into a Christian feast day on February 14th in honour of Saint Valentine.
In Wales, wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, “You unlock my heart!” Other common motifs were chains and knots which represented the wish to be together. Why not help the children decorate a love spoon which they can then give as a gift to a friend. The love spoons can also be used as book marks.