又到了一年之中最浪漫的日子啦~情人节在英语中称为“Valentine's Day”，“Valentine”是一个人的名字，“St. Valentine”音译为圣瓦仑丁（或圣华愣定）。情人节为什么是以人名命名的？其背后有什么故事呢？ 

情人节的由来

We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

我们知道二月份一直都是一个庆祝爱情的月份，而情人节，正是我们今天所知道的，包含了基督教和古罗马传统两者的痕迹。但是圣瓦伦丁究竟是谁?他是怎么和这个古老节日联系在一起的?

Saint Valentine was a priest who lived in the Roman Empire around 200 AD. During this time, Emperor Claudius ll was known to have outlawed marriage for young men. He believed that married men did not make good soldiers. But Valentine did not agree with this mandate and he continued to perform secret marriages for young couples.

圣瓦伦丁是—位公元200年左右生活在罗马帝国的牧师。在此期间，皇帝克劳迪亚斯二世宣布年轻男人结婚是违法的，他认为已婚男士不能成为好士兵。但圣瓦伦丁不同意这—规定，他继续为年轻夫妻举行秘密婚礼。

Sadly, he was caught and sentenced to death. lt is said that while he was in prison,  Valentine too fell in love, and that he actually sent the first "valentine card" to his love, signing it: "From your Valentine". Supposedly, he died in the middle of February, thus Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14th, in honor of his death.

不幸的是，他被抓住并判处死刑。据说圣瓦伦丁在狱中时也坠入爱河，他实际上寄出了第一张给爱人的“情人节卡片”，落款是：“来自你的瓦伦丁”。据说，他死于2月中旬，因此情人节被定在了2月14日来庆祝，以纪念他的死。

从牧神节到情人节

In ancient Rome, February 15th was the first day of a fertility festival called Lupercalia, dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture. On this day, it was tradition for men and women to be paired up randomly by a lottery system to be married. 

在古罗马，2月15日是牧神节是丰收节的第一天，用来祭拜罗马农业之神。在这一天有一个传统，就是男人和女人通过抽签系统随机配对结婚。

Allegedly, Pope Gelasius actually banned the Lupercalia festival because it was a pagan ritual, but perhaps he wanted to see the festival continue on as a Christian holiday. Pope Gelasius declared February 14th St. Valentine's Day during the late 400s AD. 

据说，格拉修斯教皇实际上禁止了牧神节，因为它是—种异教仪式，但也许他想看到这个节日继续作为基督教节日存在。教皇格拉修斯在公元400年代末将2月14日定为情人节。

在中世纪的法国和英格兰，2月14日还被认为是鸟儿交配季节的第一天，被认为是浪漫的一天。