VOL. XIII, NO. 7
FEBRUARY 11, 1972

Patron Saint Initiates
Cupid's Life
By AMY MONTALBANO

Many years ago, Valentine's Day was celebrated with the most elaborate cards, gifts, and ceremonies; but for the most part February 14 has lost much of the character of the olden days.

Who started all this valentine sending and who was St. Valentine anyway?

From the slight bit that is known about him, Valentine was apparently a revered Christian priest and was beheaded in Rome in 269 AD. for curing the jail		 keeper's daughter of blindness. But the strange thing about it is that there is no direct connection, not even in the way of legend, between this saint and this custom.

What appears to have happened is that the date, according to a European legend, was supposed to be the day on which the birds began to pair and so young men and girls would choose their mates, or at least send greetings. This just happened to fall on the day of St. Valentine's feast, and the day was put under his protection.