Valentine's Day is safely passed...

That's what they used to say....

Thus began a great purification ritual. Dressing only in the skins of the newly sacrificed goats, the priests ran about the foot of the Palatine… a major part of this rite was the lustration (light flogging or whipping) of citizens by means of goatskin strips, called februa. Anyone the priests encountered on their trek received a smack with these bloody hides. It was the women, however, who got most of the attention…

http://latin.about.com/library/weekly/aa021401a.htm

(and yes, Jackie, they were fresh out of goat skins in Cardigan, so I had to just get her flowers )