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Today in Latvia, as elsewhere in the world, Valentine’s Day is celebrated for all lovers.
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St. Valentine is considered to be the guardian or patron of all lovers. Every February on Valentine’s Day, lovers in many countries give each other sweets, flowers and other sweethearts.
The history of the origin of Valentine’s Day, as well as the news of St. Valentine’s Day itself, is quite vague and inaccurate, but it is known that this day combines the traditions of both Ancient Rome and the Christian world.
The Catholic Church recognizes at least three holy martyrs known by the name of Valentine.
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One of the legends says that Valentine was a priest in ancient Rome. When Emperor Claudius II concluded in the 3rd century AD that unmarried men were better warriors than those who had wives and families, he forbade young, unmarried men to marry. Priest Valentine, who understood the injustice of the decision, did not obey the emperor’s order and continued to secretly marry the couple in love. When Valentine’s disobedience was discovered, Claudia sentenced him to death.
Another legend says that Valentine himself sent the first greeting. The prisoner who was imprisoned was allowed to meet a young girl, possibly the daughter of the prison supervisor, with whom Valentine fell in love. Before her death, Valentine left her a letter signed with the words “Your Valentine” – a phrase used as a signature for Valentine’s Day greetings to this day.
Thoughts on why Valentine’s Day should be celebrated in February are also divided. Historians claim that this is due to the death of Valentine the priest around 270 AD. Others say that the Christian church has decided to declare the holiday in February, in an attempt to give a Christian spirit to the pagan festival of Lupercalia, which took place at that time.
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The Lupercalia Festival has started on February 15. It was a festival of fertility and productivity, celebrated in honor of Faun, the god of agriculture in ancient Rome, and the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
At the beginning of the festival, members of the Roman Order of Priests “Luperci” gathered in the sacred cave, where, according to belief, the wolf or Lupa had raised Romula and Remus, the founders of Rome. The priests first sacrificed the goat, which was to be fertile, and the dog, which symbolized purification. The boys then cut the skin of the sacrificial goat into strips, dipped it in the blood and lightly whipped both the woman and the fields with bloody strips. Roman women are not afraid of this touch, as it has made them more likely to become mothers next year.
According to legend, later on the feast all the Roman virgins placed signs with their names in a large urn. After that, each unmarried man pulled a note with a woman’s name out of the urn, creating it for the next year. These random couples are very often married.
In 498, Pope Gelasias declared February 14 Valentine’s Day. The Roman “couple lottery” was declared non-Christian and prohibited by law.
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