According to one of the most widespread stories, San Valentino di Terni was a Christian priest who lived in the 4th cent. D.C. during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius II.
The latter wanted his soldiers to be strong and determined fighters, so he forbade them to marry, believing that marital ties made the soldiers too emotionally involved and less suited to fighting.
However, Valentine’s Day continued to celebrate weddings secretly and to help lovers couples join despite the emperor’s ban.
When his business was discovered, Valentine’s Day was arrested and sentenced to death. The Feast of Lovers was established in 496 by Pope Gelasio I of the day. Replacing the previous pagan festival of Lupercalia.
The Lupercalia were a Roman festival dedicated to fertility and physical love. It was celebrated with various rituals: parades, days when the servants took the place of the masters and an archaic manifestation in which women subjected themselves, in the middle of the streets, to the blows given by young naked men armed with branches.
Through the lashes the rural God Fauno-Luperco granted a blessing that propitiated fertility.
There are also other theories for which the Valentine’s Day is the result of many customs and traditions of different cultures including Jewish and Celtic that in February celebrated the overcoming of the middle of winter and the timid recovery of nature.
In any case, Valentine’s Day has become an important occasion to celebrate love and affection between couples.
Today is a very felt and celebrated holiday in most countries of the world.
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