More than 2000 years ago, there was a festival in Rome every year on February 15 th, called Lipereallia. At this festival, the names of all the young women were written on pieces of paper, then the piece were folded and put together in a box. Each young man then took out one piece of paper. The girl whose name was written on the paper would be his partner for the festival of dancing and games. Many young people met the people they would marry. The Christians later changed the name of the festival to honor a Christian Saint named Saint Valentine, and changed the date to February 14 th, the day St. Valentine died. This was believed to be the date when birds first began to mate after the winter season, and for that reason, they kept the holiday in honor of Love.