So Jake and I actually got to go out on a date!!! We hardly get to do that anymore. He got off a little early from work and we hung out with Josiah. Then Josiah went to our friend/neighbors house to play with his friends. Jake and I took off on our date. It was so nice to have an evening out with just the two of us. We went to see that movie "Because I said So" It was funny and cute. I would recommend the movie for everyone. Then we came home and picked up Josiah around 9:30pm. We had a little play time with him - we played cars on his new car mat and then got ready for bed and had cuddle time. What a great way to end the day...cuddling with my two favorite guys!!! What a great Valentine Day it was.
Here's a little background Information on St. Valentine and where we get the traditions we celebrate today:
Catholic Origins
The legend of St. Valentine is not absolutely clear, which is also why we refer to this history as "legend." One legend portrays him as a priest who refused the Roman Emperor Claudius II's law, ordering that young men remained single. It is argued that Claudius II did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young Catholic men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Fr. Valentine arrested and thrown in jail. Claudius had meetings with Fr. Valentine and grew fond of him and even attempted to get Fr. Valentine to convert to the Roman paganism which he practiced. Instead, Fr. Valentine refused and attempted to convert Claudius to the Catholic faith. This enraged Claudius, and he sentenced Valentine to death. While imprisoned, one of the jailors had a blind daughter, whom he brought to the jail often, and she spoke at length to Fr. Valentine. Just before he was put to death, he sent her a small card and signed it, "From your Valentine."
Another story has it that while Fr. Valentine was imprisoned, people would leave him little notes, folded up and hidden in cracks in the rocks around his cell. He would find them and offer prayers for them.
Either way, the origin of the modern "Valentine Card" came from notes either to or from Fr. Valentine while he was in prison.
Fr. Valentine was put to death on February 14, 270 AD (some sources say 269, others 273 AD).
February fertility festivals
On the ancient Athens calendar, the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera.
In Ancient Rome, February 15 was Lupercalia. Plutarch wrote:
Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.
The word Lupercalia comes from lupus, or wolf, so the holiday may be connected with the legendary wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus. Priests of this cult, luperci would travel to the lupercal, the cave where the she-wolf who reared Romulus and Remus allegedly lived, and sacrifice animals (two goats and a dog). The blood would then be scattered in the streets, to bring fertility and keep the wolves away from the fields. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier "or "the chaste Juno," was celebrated on February 13-14. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) abolished Lupercalia. Some historians argue that Candlemas (then held on February 14, later moved to February 2) was promoted as its replacement, but this feast was already being celebrated in Jerusalem by AD 381. The pope also declared in 496 that the feast of St. Valentine would be on February 14.
Here's a little background Information on St. Valentine and where we get the traditions we celebrate today:
Catholic Origins
The legend of St. Valentine is not absolutely clear, which is also why we refer to this history as "legend." One legend portrays him as a priest who refused the Roman Emperor Claudius II's law, ordering that young men remained single. It is argued that Claudius II did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young Catholic men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Fr. Valentine arrested and thrown in jail. Claudius had meetings with Fr. Valentine and grew fond of him and even attempted to get Fr. Valentine to convert to the Roman paganism which he practiced. Instead, Fr. Valentine refused and attempted to convert Claudius to the Catholic faith. This enraged Claudius, and he sentenced Valentine to death. While imprisoned, one of the jailors had a blind daughter, whom he brought to the jail often, and she spoke at length to Fr. Valentine. Just before he was put to death, he sent her a small card and signed it, "From your Valentine."
Another story has it that while Fr. Valentine was imprisoned, people would leave him little notes, folded up and hidden in cracks in the rocks around his cell. He would find them and offer prayers for them.
Either way, the origin of the modern "Valentine Card" came from notes either to or from Fr. Valentine while he was in prison.
Fr. Valentine was put to death on February 14, 270 AD (some sources say 269, others 273 AD).
February fertility festivals
On the ancient Athens calendar, the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera.
In Ancient Rome, February 15 was Lupercalia. Plutarch wrote:
Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.
The word Lupercalia comes from lupus, or wolf, so the holiday may be connected with the legendary wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus. Priests of this cult, luperci would travel to the lupercal, the cave where the she-wolf who reared Romulus and Remus allegedly lived, and sacrifice animals (two goats and a dog). The blood would then be scattered in the streets, to bring fertility and keep the wolves away from the fields. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier "or "the chaste Juno," was celebrated on February 13-14. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) abolished Lupercalia. Some historians argue that Candlemas (then held on February 14, later moved to February 2) was promoted as its replacement, but this feast was already being celebrated in Jerusalem by AD 381. The pope also declared in 496 that the feast of St. Valentine would be on February 14.
