---

History of St Valentine

In Ancient Rome, the date of February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno the Queen of Roman Goddesses and Gods. Juno was known as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and they would then be partners for the duration of the festival. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year and often they would fall in love and later marry.

This ritual under the laws of Emperor Claudius II was banned, as he believed the reason men would not go to war was because they did not want to leave their lovers or families. As a result, all marriages and engagements were cancelled. However a Roman priest named Valentine married these couples in secret and for this he was executed as a martyr on 14th February 270AD. It is said that while Valentine was in jail he fell in love with the jailer's blind daughter and left her a farewell note, which he signed 'From Your Valentine'. Valentine was later canonised and February 14th was the date set to honour him. Gradually February 14th became the date for exchanging love messages, and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers.

---

Gemstones and Traditional Gifts by Wedding Anniversary

ANNIVERSARY	GEMSTONES (ALTERNATIVE STONES)	TRADITIONAL GIFTS (MODERN GIFTS)
1st	Peridot	Paper (Clocks)
2nd	Garnet	Cotton (China)
3rd	Pearls (Jade)	Leather (Crystal)
4th	Blue Topaz	Fruit/Flowers (Appliances)
5th	Sapphire (Pink Tourmaline)	Wood (Silverware)
6th	Amethyst (Turquoise)	Ireon (Wood)
7th	Onyx (Yellow Sapphire, Golden Beryl)	Wood/Copper (Desk Sets)
8th	Tourmaline (Tanzanite)	Bronze/Pottery (Linen/Lace)
9th	Lapis Lazuli (Amethyst, Green Spinel)	Pottery/Willow (Leather)
10th	Diamond (Blue Sapphire)	Tin/Alluminium (Diamond Jewellery)
11th	Turquoise (Citrine, Yellow Zircon)	Steel (Fashion Jewelllery)
12th	Jade (Opal)	Silk/Linen (Pearls)
13th	Citrine (Moonstone, Hawk's Eye)	Lace (Textiles)
14th	Opal (Agate, Bloodstone)	Ivory (Gold Jewellery)
15th	Ruby (Rhodolite Garnet, Alexandrite, Quartz)	Crystal (Watches)
16th	Peridot (Red Spinel, Topaz)	Silverware
17th	Carnelian (Amethyst)	Furniture
18th	Cat's Eye (Aquamarine, Garnet)	Porcelain
19th	Aquamarine (Almandine Garnet)	Bronze
20th	Emerald (Yellow or Golden Diamond)	China (Platinum)
21st	Iolite	Brass/Nickel
22nd	Spinel	Copper
23rd	Imperial Topaz (Sapphire)	Silver Plate
24th	Tanzanite	Musical Instruments
25th = Silver Anniversary	Tsavorite (Green Garnet)	Silver
30th = Pearl Anniversary	Pearls	Pearls
35th	Emerald (Coral, Jade)	Coral (Jade)
40th = Ruby Anniversary	Ruby	Ruby
45th	Sapphire	Sapphire
50th = Golden Anniversary	Imperial or Golden Topaz	Gold
55th	Alexandrite (Emerald)	Emerald
60th = Diamond Anniversary	Diamonds (Star Ruby)	Diamonds
65th = Sapphire Anniversary	Sapphire (Blue Spinel)	Sapphire
70th = Platinum Anniversary	Platinum (Smoky Quartz)	Platinum
75th = Diamond Anniversary	Diamonds (Star Ruby)	Diamonds
80th = Ruby Anniversary	Ruby	Ruby