The History of Valentine’s Day

Love is a wonderful thing so we thought it would be a nice idea to learn more about the man who celebrated it most.

As most of us know, the romantic holiday Valentine’s Day is named after the Catholic Priest, Saint Valentine. The true story of St. Valentine and why we celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14^th of February is blurry and unclear but there are some things that are known for sure.

Born in the year 226 AD, Valentine became a Catholic priest in 3^rd Century Rome. At this time, most Romans were pagans, but more and more people were converting to the Christian faith. Emperor Claudius ll was unhappy about this and created laws that restricted Christians and what they were allowed to do.

Claudius also felt that Roman soldiers should be solely devoted to Rome therefore passed a law against them from marrying. However, the stories say that Valentine continued to marry Christian couples in private.

Once Emperor Claudius found out about Valentine’s crimes, he imprisoned him. It is said that the Saint cared for his fellow prisoners and even cured the blindness of one girl who is said to be the daughter of his jailer.

Legend tells us that Valentine was executed on the 14^th of February in the year 270 AD for betraying Roman Emperor Claudius ll. People say that the Saint’s last act before his execution was a love letter written to the girl whose blindness he cured; which he signed: ‘from your Valentine’.

It wasn’t until 200 years later that this day was given the title Valentine’s Day and established as a feast day on the Catholic calendar of Saints. During the Middle Ages, the poet, Chaucer, was the first to link St. Valentine with romantic gestures and thus began the tradition of confessing one’s love to another on this day.