Valentine's day is such a well-known and celebrated holiday, especially in western countries. However, nobody really stops to think about where it came from! It is not the same as Christmas or Easter, most people know these are Christian holidays and even people from different religions learn the basics of their history. However, did you know that Valentines Day is in fact a Christian celebration? The Catholic Church officially acknowledges 3 different saints called Valentine or Valentinus. All three of the saints have their own tragic story.
The first legend to look at is the original Saint Valentine, a priest who served during Emperor Claudius II's rule in Rome. Claudius II believed that the best warriors were single men as they had less to lose. He, therefore, outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine did not agree with this and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentin was caught disobeying the banning of marriage, he was put to death.
Another Valentine is Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop. There is not that much known about him, except that he was also beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.
The last Valentine's legend is that of an imprisoned Valentine was the first person to send a “valentine” greeting. He fell in love with a young girl who constantly came to visit him during his confinement. We believe her to be the jailor’s daughter,. Before his death he wrote to her and it is believed that he signed his letter “From your Valentine”.
Even though it is unclear, where the original Saint Valentine's Day stems from, all of the stores show each of the St Valentines as sympathetic, heroic and romantic figures.
In both England and France, St Valentine became the most popular saint by the Middle Ages. You, like many other people, probably believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated to remember the brutal death of St. Valentine. However some say that Valentine's Day was actually a ploy to “Christianize” the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a holiday dedicated to Faunus, a Roman agricultural god. It was a fertility festival. They would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.
Today, according to Hallmark, an estimated 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year .
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