Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a day celebrated in many countries including the United States. In this day many people exchange gifts such as candy, flowers, and jewelry with their loved ones.  The history of Valentines Day's saint is a mystery as the Catholic Church recognizes at least 3 different saints named Valentine or Valentinus. One legend says that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men were better soldiers, the outlawed marriage for young men. But Valentine saw the pain it caused some, so he decided to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When they discovered what he was doing, Claudius ordered for him to be killed. There are other stories suggesting that Valentine may have tried to help Christians escape harsh Roma prisons but was killed in the process. Another legend states that an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" himself after he fell in love with a young girl who was possibly his jailer's daughter who would often visit during his confinement. Before his death he wrote a letter to her signed "From your Valentine," an expression which is still used to this day. While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270–others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”–at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.