The break's over

Until now Greek myths, ancient Rome, British history...all these had never cease to fascinate me. I learned something interesting while I was in Rome last year...something to do about this upcoming V-Day we go so overboard about.
Apparently in ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno, Goddess of women and marriage. Feast of Lupercalia would be celebrated the next day.

The lives of young boys and girls back then were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry. :)

At the same time Emperor Claudius was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues as men did not want to leave their loved ones behind. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. St. Valentine on the other hand, went against the rules of Emperor Claudius and began to secretly blessed the marriages of couples who came to ask for his help. For this St. Valentine was apprehended, dragged and condemned to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February.

The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavoured to do away with the pagan element in the feast of Lupercalia by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. They also chose February the 14th to honour St. Valentine and for the celebration of this new feaSt. Hence...the story goes on and here we are today...showered with flowers, gifts, dinners at supposedly romantic restaurants...for those lucky enough to have people to celebrate with them.

And for the others? those singles out there...or those LDR sufferers...it's just another ordinary day for all of us