LOVE, LUST AND LIES IN VALENTINE CELEBRATION (1)

Throughout the world, February 14th is often celebrated as "Valentine's Day.

" What is the truth about "Saint Valentine's Day"? Here is a link to a YouTube video on it Should Christians Observe Valentine's Day? Notice what a 2008 news item correctly reported about this day: St.

Valentine's Day - a day to declare your affection for that special someone.

And what did Saint Valentine have to do with love notes and affection? Absolutely nothing! In fact, there's a good chance he may never have existed.

You see, at least according to most accounts, the day was begun by the residents of ancient Rome who wanted to honor the she-wolf that had raised Romulus and Remus.

It was Romulus who founded Rome, after killing his brother Remus in a fit of rage.

At least that's the story they've been telling over the centuries.

However the Christian church leaders in Rome didn't like the celebration.

Too pagan-like, they said.
But, knowing the celebration was too popular for them to end; they gave it some Christian respectability instead.

They decided since it coincided with St.
Valentine's feast day they would call it St.
Valentine's Day (Brown P.
Origin of Valentine's Day may surprise us.
The Enid News & Eagle, Enid OK, Published: January 16, 2008 12:49 am.

http://www.
enidnews.
com/opinion/local_story_016004906.
html viewed 01/17/08).
Yet the improperly named magazine, Christianity Today, reported: Civilizations have celebrated Valentine's Day for millennia, but even so, on February 14, we seem ready to celebrate love once again.

Here are some articles on the holiday's Christian history, thoughts on love, and ways to show your Valentine how much you care.

"Civilizations" of the world certainly "have celebrated Valentine's Day for millennia," but real Christians have not.

On that page with that claim there was also an ad for "The perfect gift for your Valentine!"  How commercially convenient.

The Apostle John was inspired to write: 'Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world.

17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever'.

(1 John 2:15-17, NKJV)  Valentine's Day is a worldly holiday, essentially built upon lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

It will pass away; it is not a true Christian holiday.

In 2009, Christianity Today's Valentines from Heaven article began with: How God reminded nine singles of his love for them on Valentine's Day.

Since I'm single, I spent February 14 trying to concentrate on the fact that God is my valentine.

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(Valentines from Heaven.
Christianity Today.
http://www.
christianitytoday.
com/singles/newsletter/responses-valentine.
html, viewed 2/12/09) The above page had an ad that attempted to sell some type of dating service.

Would God want to be viewed as a Valentine? In 2007, Christianity Today's History of Valentine's Day article began with: St.

Valentine was actually two people (that weren't romantically involved) who were martyred on the same day (c.

270).
Feasts commemorating them were celebrated on February 14.

One was a priest and physician who died in Rome during the persecution of Christians by Claudius II Grotius.

The other was the bishop at Terni, Italy who was also martyred in Rome.

Both have been buried at different places along the Flaminian Way (History of Valentine's Day.

Christianity Today.
1999.
http://www.
christianitytoday.
com/holidays/valentines/features/history.
html, January 31, 2004).
The Christianity Today article above never mentioned the pagan origins of the holiday.

The closest it comes is by stating: So why do people send "valentines" or "love-tokens" to one another on that day? The origin of that tradition is not thought to have any connection with the saint's day.

Rather it comes from an early European belief that the second week of February was when birds began to mate.

The idea suggests that lovers should probably exchange notes and gifts on February 14 in conjunction with what nature practiced.

It then concludes with "Nowadays, Valentine's Day is observed as a special day for love and romance.

This topic is one of the oldest, and probably most-discussed, issues in history! As Christians, we know that love originates from God and that God is love (1 John 4:16).

That is the history of Valentine's Day? Is that what Christianity Today believes Christians should know about that day? Are the customs associated with Valentine's Day truly biblical? Or does the Protestant world wish to obscure the truth? Did Christianity Today intentionally leave the whole truth out?  Perhaps.

However, if one looks further, one will realize that although in every recent year Christianity Today tries to sell gifts related to Valentine's Day on the internet, it does have an article that admits the following: There are more tales of the "origins" of Valentine's Day than arrows in Cupid's quiver.

As expected, most have something to do with pagan ritual (pretty much every holiday-from Christmas to Mother's Day-has something to do with pagan ritual).

Four centuries before Christ, Romans had a day called Lupercalia.

Without going too much into it, I'll sum it up as a sexual lottery.

Pull names out of a box at random and couple with a young member of the opposite sex.

After a year, you get to pick another name (Olsen T.

Then Again Maybe Don't Be My Valentine.
Christianity Today.
February 12, 1999).
So, Valentine's Day was originally a sexual lottery according to Christianity Today.

Yet, despite knowing that much of the truth, in 2011 (like it did in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010) Christianity Today still promotes and tries to sell gifts for Valentine's Day.

What are The Origins of Valentine's Day?  Even the old World Book Encyclopedia (Valentine's Day.

Volume 19.
1966, pp.
205-206) states: .
.
.
the customs of the day have nothing to do with the lives of the saints.

They probably come from an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia which took place every February 15.

The festival honored Juno, the Roman goddess of women and marriage, and Pan, the god of nature.

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The Romans celebrated their feast of Lupercalia as a lovers' festival for young people.

Young men and women chose partners for the festival by drawing names from a box.

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After the spread of Christianity, churchmen tried to give Christian meaning to the pagan festival.

In 496, Pope Gelasius changed the Lupercalia festival of February 15 to Saint Valentine's Day February 14.

But the sentimental meaning of the old festival has remained to the present time.

Historians disagree about the identity of St.
Valentine".
Furthermore it also states:  "LUPERCALIA.
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was celebrated on February 15 in honor of Faunus, a rural Italian god.

Faunus was later identified with Pan, the god of herds and fertility.

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Priests.
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ran around striking all the women they met (Lupercalia.

Volume 12.
1966, p.
456).
  The pagan being named Cupid (a supposed son of Venus) was also involved.

According to pagan mythology, anyone being hit by Cupid's arrow falls in love with the first person he/she sees.

One source was bold enough to state, the church replaced elements of various love-gods (Juno Februata, Eros, Cupid, Kama, Priapus) with St.

Valentine, an imaginary Christian.
A number of contradictory biographies were created for him.

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By taking over some of the features of the Pagan gods and goddesses, St.

Valentine became the patron saint of lovers.
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St.
Valentine's Day can be traced back to Lupercalia, the Roman "festival of sexual license" (ST.

VALENTINE AND VALENTINE'S DAY, http://www.
religioustolerance.
org/valentine1.
htm, February 6, 2004).
Notice what the Roman Catholics teach: The roots of St.

Valentine's Day lie in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated on Feb.

15.
For 800 years the Romans had dedicated this day to the god Lupercus.

On Lupercalia, a young man would draw the name of a young woman in a lottery and would then keep the woman as a sexual companion for the year (The Origins of St.

Valentine's Day.
http://www.
americancatholic.
org/Features/ValentinesDay/, January 31, 2004).
It is of interest to note that the same Catholic source states: The Catholic Church no longer officially honors St.

Valentine, but the holiday has both Roman and Catholic roots.

Does Valentine's Day sound like a holy festival of love or a pagan holiday of lust? More on the Origins of Lubercus, Now Known as St.

Valentine's Day: Notice the following: The Feast of Lubercus The first interpretation has this celebration originating as a pagan tradition in the third century.

During this time hordes of hungry wolves roamed outside of Rome where shepherds kept their flocks.

The God Lupercus, was said to watch over the shepherds and their flocks and keep them from the wolves.

Every February the Romans celebrated a feast called Lupercalia to honor Lupercus so that no harm would come to the shepherds and their flocks.

Also during Lupercalia, but in honor of the goddess Juno Februata, the names of young women were put into a box and names were drawn by lot.

The boys and girls who were matched would be considered partners for the year, which began in March.

This celebration continued long after wolves were a problem to Rome.

--- St.
Valentine's Day As Christianity became prevalent, priests attempted to replace old heathen practices.

To Christianize the ancient pagan celebration of the Feast of Lubercus, the church officials changed the name to St.

Valentine's Day.
To give the celebration further meaning and eliminate pagan traditions, priests substituted the drawing of Saints names for the names of the girls.

On St.
Valentine's Day the priest placed saint's names into an urn or box.

The young people then drew a name from the container.

In the following year, the youth was supposed to emulate the life of the saint whose name he had drawn.

By the fourteenth century they reverted back to the use of girl's names.

In the sixteenth century they once again tried to have saintly valentines but it was as unsuccessful as the first attempt.

While it can't be proved historically, there were seven men named Valentine who were honored with feasts on February 14th.

Of these men, two stories link incidents that could have given our present day meaning to St.

Valentine's Day.
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----February 14th - The Day the Birds Began to Mate The Europeans also believed that on February 14th the birds began to choose their mates.

In fact Chaucer, in his "Parlement of Foules," wrote: "For this was Saint Valentine's Day when every foul cometh there to choose his mate".

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The tradition of birds choosing their mates on St.
Valentine's Day led to the idea that boys and girls would do the same.

Now when a youth drew a girl's name, he wore it on his sleeve, and attended and protected her during the following year.

This made the girl his valentine and they exchanged love tokens throughout the year.

Later this was changed to only men giving love tokens to females, usually without names but signed "with St.

Valentine's Love.
" Later, in France, both sexes drew from the valentine box.

A booked called Travels in England, written in 1698, gives an account of the way it was done: On St.

Valentine's Eve an equal number of Maids and Bachelors get together, each writes their true or some feigned name upon separate billets, which they roll up and draw by way of lots, the Maids taking the Men's billets, and the Men the Maids'; so that each of the young Men lights upon a Girl that he calls his Valentine, and each of the Girls upon a young Man which she calls hers.

By this means each has two Valentines--but the Man sticks faster to the Valentine that is fallen to him than to the Valentine to whom he is fallen.

Fortune having thus divided the company into so many couples, the valentines gives balls and treats to their mistresses, wear their billets several days upon their bosoms or sleeves, and this little sport often ends in Love.

This ceremony is practiced differently in different Countries, and according to the freedom or severity of Madame Valentine.

This is another kind of Valentine, which is the first young Man or Woman chance throws in your way in the street, or elsewhere .

.
.
(The Origins of Valentine's Day.
http://www.
techdirect.
com/valentine/origin.
html, January 31, 2004).
Anyway, the preceding article mentions those three as the possible origins of Valentine's Day.

Actually all three of those are to some degree correct (and World Book Online, in its article Valentine's Day--which I checked on February 6, 2004--says that some believe that all three played a role in the origins)--Valentine's day was a pagan holiday that the Catholic Church modified and that most Protestants embrace, which is probably why some Europeans also declared that to be the day the birds mated (birds mate pretty much every day in some part of Europe, so it seems disingenuous to coincidentally declare it on February 14).

Thus, much of Christianity Today's version of the "History of Valentine's Day" appears to be a selective Protestant fantasy.

But the most likely beginning of the "holiday" seems to have to do with the beginning of the Roman Empire, and probably is prior to the third century: Archaeologists say they have unearthed Lupercale-the sacred cave where, according to legend, a she-wolf nursed the twin founders of Rome and where the city itself was born.

The long-lost underground chamber was found beneath the remains of Emperor Augustus' palace on the Palatine, a 230-foot-tall (70-meter-tall) hill in the center of the city.

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According to myth, Lupercale is where a she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the war god Mars and mortal priestess Rhea Silvia, who had been abandoned in a cradle on the bank of the Tiber River.

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Every year on February 15 ancient priests killed a dog and two goats and smeared the foreheads of two boys from noble families with the sacrificial blood as part of the Lupercalia celebration.

(Valsecchi, Maria Cristina.
Sacred Cave of Rome's Founders Discovered, Archaeologists Say.

National Geographic News.
January 26, 2007.
January 26, 2007.
http://news.
nationalgeographic.
com/news/2007/01/070126-rome-palatine.
html).
Of course, the story of Romulus and Remus is really the fable about the beginning of the Roman Empire--now that Europe is once again trying to revive this empire, I am sure that its leaders are pleased to have located "the sacred cave.

" Is Valentine's Day A Holiday in Honor of "The Queen of Heaven"? Another source adds:  The roots of Valentine's Day can be traced back to pagan festivals of third century Rome.

February 14th was set aside as a day to honor the goddess Juno, who was the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses and was the goddess of women and marriage.

This day was also the eve of the Feast of Lupercalia.

This festival was in honor of the god Lubercus (The History of Valentine's.

  http://www.
christinescyberuniverse.
com/VDay/VdayHistory.
html, January 31, 2004).
And who was Juno?  JUNO was the queen of heaven and wife of Jupiter (Zeus).

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.
The ancient Greeks called her HERA (Juno.
World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 11.
1966, pp.
162-163).
  A holiday for the queen of heaven! What does God say about that?  '.

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the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.

Do they provoke Me to anger?" says the LORD.
"Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?" (Jeremiah 7:18-20, NKJV).

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: 'You and your wives have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands, saying, "We will surely keep our vows that we have made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.

" You will surely keep your vows and perform your vows!' "Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: 'Behold, I have sworn by My great name,' says the LORD, 'that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, "The Lord GOD lives.

"'Behold, I will watch over them for adversity and not for good.

And all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end to them" (Jeremiah 44:25-28, NKJV).

  In other words, God was not happy that people wanted to worship the queen of heaven and He would punish them for it.

Another source mentioned, The Feast of Lupercalia was celebrated in honor of the God Lupercus, who was said to watch over shepherds and their flocks and kept them safe, since during this time hordes of hungry wolves roamed outside Rome.

The festival was celebrated on February 15 at the cave of the Lupercal on the Palatine Hill, where the legendary founders of Rome, the twins Romulus and Remus, were supposed to have been nursed by a wolf.

However, other scholars, while not dismissing the celebration of Lupercalia, prefer to explain the celebration which took place in the middle of February as a celebration to the Goddess Juno Februato.

It is to their thinking linked to Valentine's Day.
While all scholars agree to the time when the practice of men drawing the names of women took place, there do exist slight differences in whose honor the celebrations took place.

As time marched on, Christianity steadily gained converts and it became an officially supported religion in the Roman state under Constantine I, who ruled as emperor from AD 324 to 337.

All pagan cults were prohibited in AD 392 by an edict of emperor Theodosius I.

At this time, priests attempted to replace old heathen practices.

The ancient pagan celebration of the Feast of Lubercus was renamed St.

Valentine's Day .
The priests replaced the practice of having men draw names of girls with having young people draw names of saints.

The youths were supposed to emulate the life of the saint whose name they had drawn.

The practice of this custom was unsuccessful at first and reverted back to the use of having men draw names of girls (The Myth of the Origin of Valentine's Day.

http://www.
geocities.
com/Heartland/9300/stp.
html, January 31, 2004).
  No matter if Valentine's is the Feast of Lupercus/Lubercus or Queen of Heaven Juno or both (which it probably is) it is NOT listed as a Feast of the LORD (see Leviticus 23).

(Furthermore, Jesus' mother Mary is also not the Queen of Heaven, for details, please see the article Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions.

) Are Those Who Advocate Valentine's Day Like the Valentinians of Old? Look at was written about the group known as the Valentinians prior to the third Century:  The Valentinians, who are no doubt a very large body of heretics-comprising as they do so many apostates from the truth, who have a propensity for fables, and no discipline to deter them (therefrom) care for nothing so much as to obscure what they preach, if indeed they (can be said to) preach who obscure their doctrine.

The officiousness with which they guard their doctrine is an officiousness which betrays their guilt.

Their disgrace is proclaimed in the very earnestness with which they maintain their religious system.

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By the help of the sacred names and titles and arguments of true religion, they have fabricated the vainest and foulest figment for men's pliant liking.

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Not even to their own disciples do they commit a secret before they have made sure of them.

They have the knack of persuading men before instructing them (Against the Valentinians.

This treatise is professedly taken from the writings of Justin, Miltiades, Irenaeus, and Proculus.

[Translated by Dr.
Roberts.
] ) Is this not what the Protestant and Catholic worlds now do? Do they not have a propensity for fables? Did not Christianity Today obscure what they preach about 'Saint' Valentine's Day? Is this not a disgrace? By placing the biblical title 'Saint' as part of its title have they not fabricated the vainest figment for men's liking? Many members of the Church hierarchy were Valentinus' followers, and the ordinary Christians had great difficulty to distinguish between the true Christian priests and the Valentinian Gnostics since their doctrine was so similar.

The main difference resided in the Valentinian's different vision of the nature of God; this vision was incompatible with the structure and rule of the clergy that was emerging in the Catholic Church.

The Valentinians resisted this change and the Orthodox Christians imposed it" (The History of Jesus Christ: 7.

2 Christian Doctrine.
http://www.
nullens.
org/jesus/chapter7/jch72.
htm, January 31, 2004).
It may also be of interest to note that, "The chief sacrament of the Valentinians seems to have been that of the bridal chamber (VALENTINUS AND VALENTINIANS.

http://57.
1911encyclopedia.
org/V/VA/VALENTINUS_AND_VALENTINIANS.
htm, January 31, 2004).
Perhaps I should add that Valentinus is the first one to write that God existed in three hypostases--which is now a major part of the doctrine about the trinity.

Furthermore, it should be mentioned that in Valentinus' theology all emanations from the heavenly Father are pairs of beings with male and female attributes.

This has important psychological implications.
Sexual pairing represents a state of submission, interdependence, and wholeness that makes possible the peace and bliss of Heaven.

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upon conversion Valentinian Christians {so-called} took part in sacraments that culminated in a divine marriage ceremony in which they were spiritually married to angels (Kingt A.

Primitive Christianity in Crisis, 2nd ed.
A.
R.
K.
Research, Antioch (CA), 2003).
The 'angels' in a sense were the converts' "Valentine.

"  Thus, it is possible that the Valentinians MAY have had some influence in getting this 'holiday.

' (It should be noted that the Roman Catholics claim there were three saint Valentines, and the holiday name probably came from one of them.

) Even if the followers of Valentinus had no effect on this day, the day certainly reflects some of their basic ideas.

Valentine Day celebration is not Christian.
It is a pagan demonic festival that seeks to promote immorality and lead to various sinful activities in disobedience to God's commands with consequences of eternal judgment reason you should not honour a day or engage in any activity that dishonor God your Creator(See Eccl.

12:13-14).
  Valentine Day celebration is no love but lust perpetuated over the years with lies.

It is un-Christian and against God.
Don't celebrate please, You are loved and dear to me.

I LOVE YOU.
You are blessed for life.
Have question, you may call: 08033399821 or write: akpogena@yahoo.

com.
Stay blessed.
Written By Dr.
Lewis Akpopgena