The origins of St.
Valentine’s Day are uncertain and there is a great deal of lore
regarding this celebration. Some commentators point to the festival of
Juno Februata, an ancient festival said to have been celebrated on
February 14th in which the names of maidens were supposedly
drawn for sexual liaisons to be held later in the day.
Another suggested origin
involves a Roman priest named Valentinius or Valentinian who secretly
married couples without government sanction during the reign of
Claudius. Some sources equate this figure with St. Valentine who was
martyred in Rome.
A lesser known bit of
lore is that birds choose their mates in February, and therefore love is
literally in the air. The image of winged birds may have merged with
Cupid to form a connection. The connection between the Roman god Cupid
and the month of February does not appear to have any basis in fact.
