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Show HONOR DAY OF MARTYRED SAINT The martyred Baint whose name refines re-fines and beautifies the merry customs of the ancient Roman festival of the Lupercalia knew naught of those sufferings suf-ferings of his death seem to assort ill with the season of the mating birds and the jolly forms of love-making with which that season has been celebrated cele-brated from time Immemorial. It Is not known whether his place In the calendar was assigned to the middle, mid-dle, of February with the purpose of lending a more seriouB tone to the giddiness gid-diness of Roman youths and maidens In drawing their sweethearts by lot, but certain it is that, though the lottery lot-tery of drawing one's valentine continued con-tinued until a late period of English history, it changed to a form more worthy of approval by the Berious and saintly man whose name commends It. Though in this country and this generation gen-eration the proper observance of St. Valentine's day is limited to the anonymous anon-ymous sending of tender or sentimental senti-mental missives, leaving the recipient re-cipient to solve the mystery of the sender in his or her own Imagination, there have been in the past many pretty or fanciful notions associated with the day. One was that the first person of the opposite sex one met on St. Valentine's Valen-tine's morning was to be his or her companion for life, and we may imagine im-agine the care with which the votaries of this little supersition avoided meeting meet-ing the wrong person. Sometimes young women sought to decide the personality per-sonality of their valentines by dreaming, dream-ing, and even resorted to indigestible food at going to bed on St. Valentine's ove in order to induce the dreams. A sport of the young folks in England Eng-land was to celebrate a little festival on St. Valentine's eve, in which the company was divided into couples by lot and the young man was expected to be attentive for some days to the lady who was drawn as his valentine taking her to parties, and so forth. In these days the fortunate or unfortunate unfor-tunate young man who had drawn a valentine in this way would be expected expect-ed to pay something for carriage hire and theater tickets. It cost the courtiers cour-tiers of Charles II. something to be chosen as a valentine, for Pepys, in his diary, informs us of a certain belle of the court who received a jewel of 800 value from her valentine of one year and a ring worth 300 from her valentine of another year. No true disciple of St. Valentine will indulge in the license of the caricatures carica-tures and libels that are nowadays sent through the mails under cover of the secrecy that Is sacred to his day. They are altogether alien to the spirit of the season. nveruUlK.M A lV Origin of Valentine Day. From a practice prevelent in ancient Rome at the festival of the Lupercalia during the month of February Is it that the valentine celebration comes; others oth-ers attribute its observance to the supposition sup-position that birds select their mates on this day while a prominent historian his-torian asserts that because "St. Valentine Val-entine was a man of most admirable parts and so famous for his love and charity that the custom of choosing valentines took its rise from thence.' St. Valentine was beheaded at Rome in the reign of the Emperor Claudius (A. D. 270) and was early canonized. At the Lupercalia festival, mentioned mention-ed above, the names of young women were placed in a box from which they were taken by young men, according as chance directed. Later it was the custom on the eve of February 14 to have the names of a select number of one sex put into some vessel by an equal number of the other; thereupon every one drew a name which for the time being was called his or her valentine. val-entine. The custom of choosing valentines val-entines existed very early and was much practiced in the houses of the gentry in England. There are frequent references to it in Shakespeare. Of recent years children as well as adults enjoy the Interchange of valentine valen-tine greetings and gifts as well as participation par-ticipation in festival celebrations. The day is also deemed an opportune time for the announcement of engagements, as well as entertainments and "showers" "show-ers" for brides-elect. |
