[MR] St. Valentine article

[EoganOg at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/19/02 3:40:04 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
noramunro at yahoo.com writes:


> NOT March, but MAY, Eogan. ;-)

Sorry, mea culpa. ;-)  A lot of my confusion stemmed from the fact that I 
seem to have immediately switched March and May in my head when I read this, 
so when Rosine posted about the one particular St. Valentine whose feast day 
was in May, I didn't see the connection -- I was looking for a March date!  
If I go senile in my old age, I don't think many people will be able to tell 
the difference. ;-)

I would only point out that Chaucer's reference does not mention a specific 
date, other than St. Valentine's day, and while his description of the season 
would certainly indicate a later date, there is no hard evidence to prove 
that he meant May.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, at least three different Valentines 
are mentioned in early martyrologies under February 14.  They further say:

"The popular customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day undoubtedly had 
their origin in a conventional belief generally received in England and 
France during the Middle Ages, that on 14 February, i.e. half way through the 
second month of the year, the birds began to pair. Thus in Chaucer's 
Parliament of Foules we read: 
> For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day 
> 

For this reason the day was looked upon as specially consecrated to lovers 
and as a proper occasion for writing love letters and sending lovers' tokens. 
Both the French and English literatures of the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries contain allusions to the practice."

So it would seem that there is some precedence for belief that Chaucer did 
have Feb 14 in mind when he penned those lines.

Aye,
Eogan

Tighearn Eoghan Og mac Labhrainn, CP, OPE
http://www.albanach.org
Sacred Stone Pursuivant

"Checky Or & Vert, two lions combatant, tails knowed, in base a mouse 
couchant, all within an orle of roundels, Argent."
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