Saint Valentine's Day

Today is Saint Valentine's Day and I'm feeling all kinds of things about the day...
1. Its true meaning has been lost to the over commercialization, making it a "Hallmark Holiday" so I've included the true story below
2. For many years I longed for a romantic Valentine's Day and last year was the BEST day I could have ever hoped for. Mr. F came to my house and made me dinner and we stayed in with a good bottle of wine. It sure beat going out to an over priced dinner and was WAY more romantic. Not to mention the beautiful pink tulips (not red roses!! boy does he know me! :) he brought to me. We've decided to make it a tradition and we're planning another night in this year; I'm sooo excited!
3. Every year on Valentine's Day, my maternal Grandfather sends me a card. There are only 3 girl cousins, including me (and a ton of boys!) so it always makes me feel so special that my grandfather makes such an effort to let the girls know he loves them. Perhaps the best part is he always writes SWAK (sealed with a kiss) across the envelope
4. I dont care how cheesy it is, but for the first time in my life I dont long for a special day for romance... I am finally at a point in my life where I am completely happy and know that Valentine's day is not just for romance, it is a celebration of all types of love, the love for my husband, the love for my son, the love for my family and the love for my friends.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and feels love today and everyday throughout the year because to the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world!
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(http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/ValentinesDay/origins.asp)

The Origins of St. Valentine’s Day

A quick quiz: St. Valentine was:

a) a priest in the Roman Empire who helped persecuted Christians during the reign of Claudius II, was thrown in jail and later beheaded on Feb. 14.

b) a Catholic bishop of Terni who was beheaded, also during the reign of Claudius II.

c) someone who secretly married couples when marriage was forbidden, or suffered in Africa, or wrote letters to his jailer's daughter, and was probably beheaded.

d) all, some, or possibly none of the above.

If you guessed d), give yourself a box of chocolates. Although the mid-February holiday celebrating love and lovers remains wildly popular, the confusion over its origins led the Catholic Church, in 1969, to drop St. Valentine's Day from the Roman calendar of official, worldwide Catholic feasts. (Those highly sought-after days are reserved for saints with more clear historical record. After all, the saints are real individuals for us to imitate.) Some parishes, however, observe the feast of St. Valentine.

The roots of St. Valentine's Day lie in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated on Feb. 15. For 800 years the Romans had dedicated this day to the god Lupercus. On Lupercalia, a young man would draw the name of a young woman in a lottery and would then keep the woman as a sexual companion for the year.

Pope Gelasius I was, understandably, less than thrilled with this custom. So he changed the lottery to have both young men and women draw the names of saints whom they would then emulate for the year (a change that no doubt disappointed a few young men). Instead of Lupercus, the patron of the feast became Valentine. For Roman men, the day continued to be an occasion to seek the affections of women, and it became a tradition to give out handwritten messages of admiration that included Valentine's name.

There was also a conventional belief in Europe during the Middle Ages that birds chose their partners in the middle of February. Thus the day was dedicated to love, and people observed it by writing love letters and sending small gifts to their beloved. Legend has it that Charles, duke of Orleans, sent the first real Valentine card to his wife in 1415, when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. (He, however, was not beheaded, and died a half-century later of old age.)