Roots of the valentine

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

We don’t know what it is, but we celebrate it anyway.

Friday is Hallmark Day, I mean, Valentine’s Day. It’s the day that

singles ignore or rebel against and the day when couples dutifully

fall prey to marketing.

It’s a nonsense holiday that produces mass amounts of cards,

flowers and candy hearts that taste like chalk.

So why do we persist in celebrating this holiday? It’s hard to say

no to a holiday that is about expressing your affection for loved

ones.

But where did Valentine’s Day come from? No one really knows.

There was a St. Valentine -- or maybe there were three.

Some say he was a Roman priest, others say a bishop of Terni. One

tale tells of Valentine the crusader, who died with his companions in

Africa. Of this third Valentine, little more is known. The first two

each have a story that tries to lay claim to the holiday.

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

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

of sensuality and a time of courtship.

Then, in 496 AD, Pope Gelasius outlawed the pagan festival and

replaced it with a more suitable and moral holiday. The martyred

Bishop Valentine, beheaded for helping lovers marry against the

wishes of the mad Emperor Claudius, was chosen as the inspiration.

Claudius II had outlawed marriage because he thought marriage and

the family kept men from joining his army.

While imprisoned, Valentine fell in love with his jailer’s

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

That seems to fit conveniently with the traditions of Valentine’s

Day.

Another version, however, says Valentine was a Roman priest

martyred during the reign of Claudius II. His name was not Valentine,

but Valentinus.

Valentinus was said to have demonstrated great valor and courage

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

considered criminal to help them. Valentinus was imprisoned. When he

was brought before Claudius, he tried to convert the emperor 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, on the eve of his death, wrote her a letter

signed “your valentine.”

Why he would sign a note Valentine, when his name was Valentinus,

was not explained. But otherwise, it’s a charming story. By all

means, let’s celebrate that irrational killing.

This version also speaks of the pagan festival. Part of the pagan

festival was to place young girls’ names in a box for the boys to

pick. 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 of the valentines sent today. The variations abound, but

that is the crux of it.

No matter how you slice it, it’s origins were not so pleasant,

certainly not for Valentine, or was that Valentinus?

* DANETTE GOULET is the city editor. She can be reached at (714)

965-7170 or by e-mail at danette.goulet@latimes.com.