Song of the Day - 14th February
Today's Song of the Day is naturally to celebrate Valentine's Day. Legends say that St. Valentine of Rome was a priest who defied the Roman Emperor Claudius II's ban on soldiers getting married and continuing to marry couples in secret. Other stories say that he helped Christians escape Roman prisons and fell in love with the jailer’s daughter, writing her a letter signed "From your Valentine." He was martyred and his body buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine (Saint Valentine's Day) since at least the eighth century. Valentine’s Day also has pagan roots alongside its connection to St. Valentine. It may have originated in Lupercalia, a festival of fertility celebrated on February 15 in ancient Rome. Lupercalia was dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture, Faunus, and the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. It was celebrated with animal sacrifices and gently slapping women and crop fields with goat ...