What is Valentine's Day and Why is it on February 14th?
The origin date of Valentine's Day stretches back to the time of the ancient Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was an important day for all Roman people. This was because a holiday was observed on this day out of respect for Juno, the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses. Juno was also known by the Roman people as the goddess of womanhood and marriage. The Lupercalia Festival began on the following day, February 15th.
This festival held great importance for the young population. The reason was that these young people, whose lives were restricted by strict rules and as a natural result had no chance of having a relationship, would become each other's partners, even if only for the duration of this festival.
Which young woman would form a pair with which young man was determined by an ancient tradition: a lottery held on the eve of the Lupercalia Festival. Roman girls would write their names on small pieces of paper and put them in a jar. The men would then draw these papers from the jar, and whichever girl's name was written on it, they would be with that girl throughout the festival celebrations. These pairings often extended beyond the festival period for couples who fell in love and usually ended in marriage.
Emperor Claudius II was a ruler who governed Rome cruelly with his own strict rules. His biggest problem was not being able to find soldiers to fight in his army. According to him, the only reason for this situation was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves and families. That is why he abolished all engagements and marriages in Rome.
Saint Valentine was a priest living in Rome during the reign of Claudius. Together with Saint Marius, who was also a priest like himself, he continued to secretly marry couples despite Claudius's ban. However, the Emperor learned of this after a while. Saint Valentine was arrested for continuing to marry people and, as punishment for his actions, was beaten to death with clubs. He was buried in Christian martyrdom on February 14th, 270 AD.
Around the same time, the pagans in Rome were celebrating the Lupercalia Festival, held in February, for their own pagan gods. They began to practice the traditional lottery held before the festival for themselves, adhering to the ceremony.
In the early years of the Christian Church, the priests serving were disturbed by these ceremonies, especially the association of unmarried youth with pagans, so they found a solution. Because they wanted these young people's names to be associated with saints, they began to celebrate the day the Lupercalia Festival started as Saint Valentine's Day. From that day to this, every year on February 14th continues to be celebrated as "Valentine's Day," and as long as men and women are together on earth, it seems it will continue to be celebrated.
