Look into the life of a common young woman in Rome at the end of the third century when the Pagan celebrations of Lupercalia were lawfully replaced with Christian ones. How did she understand it - and how do we understand the greater meaning of what we now call Saint Valentine's Day?
Even though the usual cold weather had set in on the eve of Lupercalia, Octavia was determined to sleep well. Thoughts of the coming festival put a smile on her face as the young woman warmed her body under the blankets. She still lived with her parents basically at the center of Rome, near Palatine Hill. And Palatine Hill just happened to be at the center of the upcoming annual celebration.
Lupercalia had not only been a tradition that Octavia had grown up observing, but one that her family, and indeed most of Rome had celebrated every February for centuries.
But this year was special in that Octavia had really matured into a young beautiful woman. Her body had developed and her mind was not only more aware of the opposite sex but at times preoccupied with it. Before this time without her parents approval, Octavia could really only look on at the events and watch the older women run around and flirt with the other young men, hoping that one of the Luperci, (the group of Roman priests who administered the good luck lashing) found their body to strike.
You see, after the priests sacrificed some goats and dogs to Lupercus, (the Roman goddess of fertility), they’d cut the skin of the goats into long strips. After smearing goat blood on their foreheads and then removing it with milk, the priests would then grab the ribbons of goat hide and run around laughing, whipping any female within range. While all the women obviously wanted to be touched by the goat hide turned to playful whip, no woman wanted to look desperate and run towards the priests, but away from them. It was like an innocent game of boys and girls chasing each other, where the girls acted like they didn't want to be pursued, but really enjoyed it, while the boys likewise feigned being burdened by running after the girls but were themselves, loving it. The women wanted to be lashed with the goat skin because it was legend that it would help them become more fertile - if the woman was already pregnant it was a sort of added blessing for a healthy pregnancy and delivery. In reality, only a few really believed in this consecration of fertility whereas most just wanted to have fun and potentially find a mate - even if it was just for a night or two. That was the other part of Lupercalia - the men would randomly chose a female’s name from a jar and be paired up with them for the remainder of the celebration. Few couples stayed together for the whole year.
All of this celebration was made even more provocative by both the priests and women being somewhat scantily clothed. Octavia had heard stories from her grandparents that when Lupercalia was observed in their day, the priests were actually naked, but as time past, for whatever reasons, full nudity had become unpopular. It probably had something to do with Rome officially changing from pagan to Christian worship over a hundred years ago in A.D. 380. Nonetheless, Octavia had her outfit picked out and ready to go - the perfect mixture of concealing and revealing. Although she had tried it on numerous times in the weeks before, Octavia fell asleep imagining what she’d look like with it on tomorrow among all the other girls in the crowd.
As the sun rose, so did Octavia - a bit earlier than normal. The excitement of the upcoming day, was difficult for the young woman to hide. It was the morning of February 13th in the year four hundred and ninety-six - the first of the three day celebration and excitement was in the air. That is, until Octavia overheard her father talking to her mother in a hushed voice. They knew Octavia was desperately looking forward to Lupercalia, so they both looked a bit dumbstruck when their daughter abruptly approached and asked what they were talking about.
Her father, at least with some grace then preceded to inform his daughter that Lupercalia had been essentially cancelled - outlawed would be more correct. Unbeknown to everyday people, the Pope had been trying to do away with pagan practices for years now. Rumors that Lupercalia was going to be banned by Pope Gelasius the first had briefly circulated years ago - but nothing materialized and they were forgotten as fast as they were spread.
Before Octavia could voice her disappointment and anger her mom quickly interjected assuring her that the Feast would still happen. The name was just going to be changed and some of the rituals involved. It would now be celebrated on the fourteenth of February and be called The Feast of Saint Valentine.
The Feast of Saint Valentine? This is going to be a Christian celebration now? Why? And who was Saint Valentine? And Can I still wear my dress? These questions filled Octavia’s mind.
Throughout the day, Octavia learned through her mother who seemed more keen on Christianity than her father, about this Saint Valentine. He had lived over two hundred years ago in a time when anyone who called themselves a Christian was systematically persecuted and even killed. In the year two-hundred and fifty, the Emperor Decius instituted “Emperor Worship” - mandating his subjects to worship and offer sacrifices to him. But because Christians were monotheistic and their dedication to the Christ did not allow for this, they had to choose between their state law and religious convictions. Because of this, many Christians were murdered and while some abandoned their faith many more went into hiding.
Valentine was one of the leading servants in the Christian Church during that time. Legend had it that he ministered to persecuted Christians - healing children with epilepsy, and even once giving sight to a blind girl. But the most intriguing story that Octavia heard about Valentine was that he was performing secret marriages between young lovers in defiance of Roman law. He was eventually found out and Valentine of Rome was martyred on February 14th in 269.
As the afternoon past, Octavia was enthralled by these stories and before she knew it, she had almost forgotten about the traditions of Lupercalia with the priests chasing the woman and the good luck fertile lashing of the goat skin. No doubt, she still wanted to be chased by boys, but something resonated within her as her mom continued telling the history and origin of the Christian faith. And even though she didn’t like that the Pope of Rome could change laws as he personally saw fit whenever he saw fit, Octavia’s youthful disappointment with him softened in light of Valentine’s story of sacrificial love. The stars had come out and Octavia readied herself for bed. But in contrast to the night before the young woman was now thinking about a new and different kind of celebration - in reality though, it was a different sort of love, with a different kind of sacrifice and a deeper sense of meaning. All the symbols of Lupercalia seemed like shadows of something greater and something true. The life of Valentine was inspiring, unlike the mythical legend of Romulus and Remus being reared by a she-wolf - not to mention much more believable.
So on February 13th, near Palatine Hill, Octavia went to sleep on the eve of the First Feast of Saint Valentine now considering a story of a man called the Christ who gave up his life to save others - and how his followers hundreds of years after he lived followed in his footsteps. A love worth dying for she pondered, more theoretically than emotionally - must be something worth living for. As she dosed off, the young woman’s desire to be beautiful and to be loved didn’t diminish and her longing to flirt with boys obviously remained unchanged. But Octavia’s spirit seemed to have found something true and right in Saint Valentine that Lupercalia had never offered.
As she noted how Lupercalia had been celebrated for hundreds and hundreds of years and that now in her own time had been essentially replaced by Saint Valentine - Octavia wondered how the new Feast would be celebrated (if at all remembered) hundreds of years after she lived. Whatever future times, cultures, and politics made of Saint Valentine’s celebration, Octavia could only imagine. But she dreamed it would still involve boys and girls toying with each other while also offering something objectively true and beautiful - Something that pointed towards the greatest kind of self-sacrificial love, not only seen in the life of Saint Valentine but more importantly, his God.
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Timeline:
250 Emperor Decius institutes "Emperor-Worship" and persecutes Christians
269 Valentine is Martyred
313 Edict of Milan - The Persecution of Christians is outlawed
325 Council of Nicea (to determine Christian orthodoxy)
380 Emperor Theodosius issues Edict of Thessalonica, (Nicene Christianity become official religion.
496 Lupercalia outlawed in honor St. Valentine.
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TEXT:
John 15:13 NIV, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."
John 3:16 NIV "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Romans 5:10 NIV "For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"
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