Happy V-Day!! =)

Happy V-Day everybody!

Hope it was a good celebration for all!!!

So what did we do for V-day? Hsiao Wen mentioned a concert with the WASO (WA Symphony Orchestra) all the way in woop woop (yes Joondalup) so we decided we could join the group and enjoy it together! It was rather nice... the weather wasn't too cold (a bit humid actually), lotsa mozzies (but thank goodness I didn't get any bites!), lovely food (thanks Alex for cooking! mmm) and great Jazz music!!!

Not sure if you can see from the picture, but it was JAM PACKED..

We didn't even bother trying to get a seat in the centre, so we settled with a side view.. still not bad. It's not one of those events where you need to see the people.. just hearing the music is good enough =) Grace Knight was great... as usual!

The view was perfect!!! And company was great =)

We were wondering about the origin of Valentine's Day.. so I googled (as you do nowadays!)

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.

One of these men named Valentine was a priest during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Valentine was revered by the young and old, rich and poor, with people of all walks of life attending his services. At this time Emperor Claudius was heavily recruiting men to serve as soldiers for his wars without much success. The men preferred not to leave their wives, families and sweethearts to fight in foreign lands. Claudius became angry and declared that no more marriages could be performed and all engagements were cancelled.

Valentine thought this to be unfair and secretly married several couples. When Claudius found out, he threw Valentine in prison where he died. Friends of the priest retrieved his body and buried it in a churchyard in Rome.

Another version had St. Valentine jailed for helping Christians. While Valentine was in prison he cured a jailer's daughter of blindness. Claudius became enraged and had Valentine clubbed and beheaded on February 14, 269 A.D.

Yet another story claims that Valentine fell in love with the jailer's daughter and wrote her letters that were signed "From your Valentine."

All of the seven Valentines eventually evolved into one. In 496 Pope Gelasius declared the day in honor of St. Valentine. Through the centuries the Christian holiday became a time to exchange love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. Lovers' quarrels come under his jurisdiction and, naturally, he is the patron saint of engaged couples and of anyone wishing to marry.
Ok, enough blogging.. better get some readings done for essay *panic*