Editor’s Notebook -- Danette Goulet

Danette Goulet

Either you love it or you hate it generally. There is really no in

between when it comes to Valentine’s Day.

If you have a valentine it is an excuse to express your love and be

assured that you are loved. If you don’t have a valentine you curse the

insensitive dolts who came up with a holiday that allows the loved to

rejoice and the lonely to wallow.

So who were those folks?

There are those who say it is merely a holiday cooked up by greeting

card companies to boost sales during the down time between Christmas and

the many spring holidays, births and wedding invitations.

But we know that there was a St. Valentine, or maybe there were three.

Was he a Roman priest, a bishop of Terni or a crusader who died with

his companions in Africa? Of this third Valentine, that’s all that’s

known.

One version of history tells us that mid-February was traditionally

the Lupercian festival -- an ode to the God of fertility, a celebration

of sensuality and a time of courtship when one would find a mate. Then,

in 496 AD Pope Gelasius outlawed the pagan festival and replaced it with

the more suitable and moral holiday for lovers. The martyred Bishop

Valentine who had been beheaded for helping lovers marry against the

wishes of the mad Emperor Claudius was chosen as the replacement.

Claudius II outlawed marriage because he thought marriage and the

family kept men from joining his army.

While imprisoned, Valentine had fallen in love with his jailer’s

daughter. He signed his last letter to her “from your valentine.”

Others say Valentine was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of

Claudius II. His actual name was not Valentine, but Valentinus.

Valentinus was said to have demonstrated great valor and courage in

helping the Christians fight Claudius II. This was at a time when it was

considered criminal to help Christians. And so Valentinus was imprisoned.

When he was brought before Claudius, he attempted to convert him to

Christianity and was beaten, stoned and beheaded for his efforts.

In this version he merely befriended the jailer’s blind daughter,

restored her sight and, of course, on the eve of his death wrote her a

letter signed “your valentine.”

Why he would do that when his name was Valentinus my research did not

reveal.

This version too speaks of the pagan festival.

Part of the pagan festival was to place young girls’ names in a box

for the boys to pick and these couples were paired off for the day or the

whole year, depending on the story. The notes sent between these couples

were a precursor to the valentines sent today.

The variations abound, but that is the crux of it.

It seems this was always a rather messy holiday -- certainly not one

ol’ Valentine enjoyed too much.

One last bit of trivia for you, as I’m boning up for the Trivia

Challenge Friday night -- the first commercial valentine was created in

1850, lace was added in 1880.

* DANETTE GOULET is the assistant city editor. She can be reached at

(714) 965-7170 or by e-mail at o7 danette.goulet@latimes.comf7 .