February 14
St. Valentine's Day
 

		St. Valentine's Day should probably be spelled St. Valentines' Day since there are three different St. Valentines that were originally honored liturgically on February 14. They were three martyred men named Valentinus who lived in the late third century during the reign of Emperor Claudius II. One of them was a priest who was beheaded because he continued to marry soldiers after Claudius forbad such marriages because the emperor thought that married soldiers were not as effective as single soldiers. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I set aside February 14 to honor all of the Sts. Valentinus. It was the practice of the early church to replace pagan feasts with religious feasts. St. Valentine's Day was chosen to replace the Feast of Lupercalia which was a fertility and mating feast. During Lupercalia, girls' names were written on slips of paper that were placed in a box. The boys would draw the girls' names from the box and have bedding privileges for a year with the designated girl. When the Church replaced Lupercalia with St. Valentine's Day, they kept the name-in-the-box idea, but replaced the girls' names with saints' names. Boys and girls were supposed to pick a name from the box and emulate the life of the saint whose name was drawn. Games being what they are, the girls' names eventually got back in the box. The games, however, became more chivalrous and the boys gave presents to the girls whose names were drawn. Some of the girls returned favors for the presents, favors ranging from a peck on the cheek to a roll in the hay.
St. Valentine Baptizing St, Lucia             by Jacopo Bassano

The food most associated with Valentine's Day is chocolate which has a history as an aphrodisiac. The Aztecs drank chocolate as a homage to Xochiquetzal, their goddess of love. The Mayans used chocolate as barter in houses of prostitution and it was restricted for the Mayan ruling class. Montezuma drank a golden goblet of a chocolate drink each rooming, convinced of its aphrodisiacal properties.

Immediately after Cortez brought chocolate back to Spain, the clergy denounced it as "provocative of immorality." In 1624, Johan  Franciscus Rauch, a professor in Vienna, condemned chocolate as an inflamer of passions and urged monks not to drink it and he wanted to ban it in the monasteries. This presented a problem for the Franciscans whose missions in Mexico made significant profits by exporting chocolate to Spain  The Church initially tried to ban chocolate because it was thought to inflame lustful passions, and, as with many things that are forbidden, became an underground pleasure somewhat akin to the use of marijuana a few hundred years later. However, the Church eventually relented and Pope Pius V, who did not like chocolate, declared that drinking chocolate on Friday did not break the Lenten fast.

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, a substance which is released naturally in the human body when one is in love. Other stimulants present in chocolate are dopamine and serotonin, which alleviate pain and encourage a good mood. Chocolate  contains theobromine, which is a mild, lasting stimulant with a mood improving effect. Its presence may be one of the causes of chocolate's mood-elevating effects, especially when one eats large amounts.

Chocolate and Framboise Cheesecake
 

1.   Grease a springform cake pan with butter.
2.   Combine crust ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
3.   Press crumb mixture into bottom and partially up sides of the pan. Place in freezer for 10 minutes. Then 
      bake for 10  minutes. Remove from oven to cool.
4.   Melt chocolate in top of double boiler. Allow to cool slightly.
5.   Increase oven heat to 400º F.  
6.   Cut cream cheese into small squares. Put cheese in food processor equipped with a blade. Add half of 
      sugar,  egg yolks  and cognac. Process until smooth.
7.   Add chocolate and process until thoroughly mixed.
8.   Beat egg whites until stiff, gradually adding remaining sugar, a little at a time. Set aside.
9.   Beat whipping cream until stiff, and pour over egg white mixture. Pour cream cheese mixture over top of
      mixture.Sprinkle flour over top of cream cheese mixture. Add vanilla. Carefully fold until all ingredients
      are blended.Pour mixture into pan.
10. Cover bottom and sides of pan with several layers of heavy aluminum foil to make pan waterproof.
      Tie foil securely around pan.Place filled pan into a larger pan filled with water that reaches half way up
      the sides of the filled   springform cake pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350º F and bake for
      one more hour. Turn off heat and   leave cake in oven for 3 hours.