Lupercalia was an ancient Roman fertility festival held annually on February 15, overseen by priests called Luperci. Each Lupercalia began with the Luperci sacrificing goats and a dog, after which two of the Luperci were led to the altar. Their foreheads were touched with a bloody knife, and the blood was wiped off with wool dipped in milk; the ritual required that the two young men laugh. The sacrificial feast followed, after which the Luperci cut thongs from the skins of the sacrificial animals and ran in two bands around the Palatine Hill, striking with the thongs at any woman who came near them. A blow from the thong was supposed to render a woman fertile.
In 494 ce the Christian church under Pope Gelasius I forbade participation in the festival. It has been suggested that Gelasius replaced Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14, but the origin of that holiday was likely much later.