For this was Seynt Valentine’s Day when every foul cometh ther to choose his mate, - Chaucer

Valentine’s Day is a time for lovers, romance, and gift giving (flowers, cards, lingerie, and more). What is the origin of Valentine’s Day? Who is Saint Valentine? Why do we give gifts? Why is it celebrated February 14? We have the answers for you!

Valentine’s Day gets its roots from the Ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. In Ancient Rome, hungry wolves roamed outside of Rome. They attacked the cattle and the shepherds. The Romans often prayed to the God Lupercus to watch over the shepherds and the flock to protect them from these wolves. To honor this God, they celebrated with a festival. The festival was also combined with prayers for fertility and harvesting.

At the beginning of this festival, men would sacrifice sheep. They would take the hides dipped with sacrificial blood and run in the country touching young women and crops to promote fertility. During the festival, names of young women would be placed in an urn or box. Each young man would draw a name. The person that they picked would be their sexual partner for the year. Many of these matches would end up with marriage. As Christianity spread, the tradition switched to drawing names of Saints and emulating these Saints for the year. This new tradition was not very popular with the young men and the original tradition of drawing women’s names reverted back. The Lupercian festival was always celebrated on February 15. In Ancient Rome, that date was the official beginning of spring.

The name of Valentine’s Day is believed to be derived from one of three Saint Valentine’s. These three Valentine’s were all martyred on February 14th. All three Saints symbolize romance, heroics, and sympathy.

The most popular was a Roman Priest that attracted disfavor from the Roman Emperor Claudius II, approximately 270 A.D. Claudius II believed that single men made better warriors. Therefore, he wrote a decree that banned young couples from getting married. Father Valentine felt empathy for these couples. He continued to marry them in secret. Because the priest defied the decree, he was sentenced to death.

The second Valentine was thought to have been put to death for helping Christians escape from the harsh Roman prisons where the prisoners were beaten and tortured. While waiting for his death sentence, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter who visited him during his confinement. She was believed to have been blind and his miracle was to have healed her blindness. During this confinement, it is alleged he wrote her a love letter. It was signed From Your Valentine. This is believed to be the first Valentine that had ever been written.

The third Valentine was believed to be the Bishop of Terni. He is believed to have been killed during the persecution of the Emperor Aurelian. He may have refused to renounce his religion, as well. He is believed to have met his end in Africa.

In the 5th Century, Emperor Gelasius declared February 14th to be Valentine’s Day. It was to be a holy day to honor St. Valentine. This helped spread Christianity by merging Christian and Pagan customs. Today, lovers across the globe and of all religions still celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th. Lovers exchange cards, flowers, lingerie, and other gifts in the name of romance and in honor of the Saint Valentine, the patron Saint.

The origins of Valentine’s day may be from antiquity, but the day is still magical in these modern times and rightly so.