Instructions: Once upon a time, in mid-February, naked, blood-smeared boys chased virgins through the fields, lashing them playfully with strips of goatskin.

At the end of the fifth century, Pope Gelasius took steps to eradicate the pagan feast of Lupercalia with its erotic fertility rites and bloody boys. He proposed a more dignified celebration of love named for the martyred Bishop Valentine.

Imprisoned for helping young lovers marry in wartime against the explicit wishes of Emperor Claudius II, Valentine fell in love with his jailers blind daughter and miraculously restored her sight - or so goes the tale.

On the eve of his execution, he wrote his last note to her and signed it

"from your Valentine," thus with a stroke of his pen adding a page to the history of love.

Chocolate was as yet unknown in Europe. On the other side of the world, Mayan couples and their ancestors had been exchanging cocoa beans and drinking chocolate in wedding ceremonies for centuries.

A thousand years after Valentines death, Cortes landed in Mexico, tasted chocolate for the first time and discovered that the Aztec emperor Moctezuma sipped thick, chili-laced chocolate for strength before visiting his wives and concubines.

By the 17 th century, chocolate was the rage in Europe, an exotic imported luxury enjoyed by the aristocracy. It was believed to aid digestion, nourish the weak, stimulate the brain and generally cure what ailed one.

Chocolate also was considered a powerful aphrodisiac.

Later, cheaper drinking chocolate became available to the masses, and the first solid chocolate bar was invented.

In the 19 th century, mass-produced valentine cards took Victorian England by storm. Likewise, Cadburys found an enthusiastic audience for the first boxed chocolates in history, decorated with sentimental images of puppies and little children.

Chocolate and Valentines Day were perfect partners.

Today, Valentines Day is the biggest chocolate-consuming day of the year.

Chocolate contains substances that boost serotonin and trigger endorphins.

Scientists recently discovered a cannabislike substance called anandamide (from the Sanskrit word meaning bliss) naturally produced in the brain and found in chocolate.

Anandamide causes a short-lived sense of euphoria that is prolonged somewhat when we eat chocolate. In short, chocolate makes us feel good, naturally, legally and safely.

Meanwhile, in case you missed this news, charges have been dropped and chocolate has been exonerated in connection with tooth decay and acne.

Chocolate, in moderation, is good for body and soul. What more perfect food is there for loved ones on Valentines Day?

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