Who is St. Valentine? And why are we celebrating his day? There are no clear definitions, but it seems that the holiday contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.
The Catholic Church recongizes three different saints names Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One legend has it that Valentine was a priest during the third century in Rome. The Emperor Claudius II figured that single men made better soldiers, so he decided to outlaw marriage for young men. Valentine decided this wasn't right, so he continued to perform marriage ceremonies for the young men. Of course once he was discovered the priest was put to death.
Another story has Vealentine helping Christians escape from Roman jails where they were beaten and killed.
A final legend has Valentine sending the first "valentine" himself. While in jail awaiting his sentence the priest fell in love with a young woman, perhaps the daughter of the jailor. He wrote her a letter in which he signed it "From Your Valentine."
One theory has it that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to mark the anniversary of Valentine's death, around 270 A.D. Some claim that the Christian church picked the middle of February so they could "christianize" the celebration of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome February was the offical start of spring and Lupercalia was a ferility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture as well as the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as Valentine's Day around 498 A.D.
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages. The first commerical valentines in the U.S. were created by Esther A. Howland in the 1840s.
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