Modern Love Holiday’s Traditions Go Back 1,500 Years to Pagan Roman Celebration

Clearwater, FL,Feb,14,2008 -- This coming Thursday, February 14, is Valentine’s Day, traditionally a time for lovers and spouses to exchange candy, flowers and other gifts. But this modern holiday actually originated 1,500 years ago, in 5th century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop.

Going back to 300 B.C., Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage, featuring a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl picked by each young man would be his sexual companion for the rest of the year. Pope Gelasius, understandably not pleased with the custom, ordered a “slight” change in the lottery. Instead of the names of teenage girls, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were to draw names from the box, and they would have to emulate the ways of the saint whose name they drew during the rest of the year. Not surprisingly, young Roman men were not thrilled with the rule change.

The Church looked for a suitable patron saint of love for the holiday. They decided upon St. Valentine, who, in AD 270 had been beheaded by Emperor Claudius. Claudius had decided that married men made poor soldiers, and banned marriage. But Valentine would secretly marry young couples that came to him. When Claudius found out, he had Valentine stoned and beheaded. While Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. Through his love and faith, he miraculously healed her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.

Stan Dubin, author of the book “When the Thrill is Gone, How to Put the Life and Excitement Back into ANY Relationship,” says, “Valentine’s Day today is a great time to express your love and appreciation for your spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend. In today’s busy lifestyle, we sometimes forget how important it is to express our love to our significant other. We don’t have to spend a pile of money to make the other person realize how much we love them.”

Anyone wondering “How can I help my marriage?”, wishing to avoid marriage counseling, and improve their marriage can do so by using Dubin’s book, “When the Thrill is Gone: How to put the Life and Excitement Back into ANY Relationship,” at http://www.helpyourmarriage.com. Additionally, tools and advice to help marriages succeed at http://www.marriagesuccess.com.
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Contact information:

Stan Dubin
marriagesuccess.com
1858 Feather Tree Circle
Clearwater, FL 33765
United States 
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http://www.marriagesuccess.com