Sunday, February 13, 2022

Pope Gelasius I & Valentine's Day: Christianizing Paganism

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1:21

"Tradition dictated that priests would gather at the entrance to the
sacred cave where Romulus and Remus were believed to have been nurtured by a she-wolf. 
They would then sacrifice a goat (for fertility) and a dog (for purification).
 
The goat's hide would be cut into strips and dipped into sacrificial blood, with priests taking the bloody skin chunks to the streets and literally slapping Roman women of childbearing age with them in the belief that it would increase the likelihood of them becoming pregnant. 
 
The story continues that, at the end of the holiday, those women who were slapped would place bits of papyrus with their names written on them in a big urn, and the city's biologically-viable bachelors would each choose a name, becoming "coupled" with her for one year – which would sometimes end in marriage if things went well.
 
Legends about a Valentine -- say that after a Roman emperor prohibited marriage for young men due to a belief that single men were better warriors than those with families. The story goes that Valentine refused to obey and helped other young soldiers to be married. When our purported Valentine was found out, the emperor reportedly sentenced him to death.
Other stories claim that an imprisoned Valentine sent the first "valentine" to a young woman he was enamored with (some suggest that it was the jailor’s daughter), before being executed.
 
At the end of the 5th century, however, Pope Gelasius I declared 14 February to be St. Valentine’s Day, a move to "Christianize" a fertility festival without cancelling it completely." Sputnik