The Origin of Valentine's Day

By Joel R.

What caused Valentine's day to be created, how did it come to be? Well it all started with a man named Saint Valentine. There are at least three different St. Valentine’s in the Catholic Church. One legend says he was a priest and served during the third century Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men were better soldiers than those that were married and had wives and children. St. Valentine, realizing the misjustice, defied Emperor Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young couples in secret.

When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Emperor Claudius sentenced him to death.

Other stories and legends suggest that Valentine was sentenced to death for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured. Other legends and stories say that Valentine sent the first ‘Valentine greeting’ from a prison cell after he fell in love with a young girl who visited him during his confinement. It states that before his death he sent her a letter signed “From your Valentine” an expression still used today. Although the truth about St. Valentine is murky it still emphasizes the importance of his story.

While some believe that we celebrate Valentine's day in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of St. Valentine death or burial around A.D. 270. Others claim that the church placed St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February to replace the celebration of Lupercalia. Lupercalia day was celebrated on the 15th of February and was a fertility festival dedicated to the Faunus , The Roman god of agriculture, As well as to the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.