Story Of St. Valentine Lost In History
Legends, Not Records, Explain Holiday's Beginnings
St. Valentine's Day has evolved from a religious ceremony to a secular holiday -- complete with candy, flowers, gifts and a whopping 1 billion greeting cards each year, according to the Greeting Card Association.
But isn't the holiday named after a saint? Who was that guy, anyway?
There's no easy answer to that question. It seems Roman tradition and Christianity combined to create this day devoted to love.
Legends abound about a mysteriously romantic St. Valentine who wed lovelorn couples during the reign of Claudius II in the third century A.D. The emperor had outlawed marriages to increase numbers in his army, and the sympathetic priest married couples in secrecy.
The story goes on to say that when the priest was caught and jailed, he met a jailer's blind daughter, who he cured with his strong faith. He also supposedly fell in love with her and send her a note before he was killed, signed "Your Valentine" -- which is where the famous phrase originated.
In reality, there are three Saint Valentines on record. The first was priest in Rome who assisted martyrs who were persecuted under Claudius II. He was beheaded in 270 because he wouldn't renounce his faith. The second St. Valentine was a bishop of Interamna (now Terni, located about 60 miles from Rome) who was also martyred under the reign of Claudius II. The third bearer of the name suffered martyrdom in Africa along with some companions -- but nothing further is known of this saint.
St. Valentine the priest was named the patron saint of lovers by the Catholic Church 200 years after his death as an attempt to quell the celebration of the pagan Lupercalia festival that took place in the middle of February.
The festival was a fertility celebration dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture. In it, priests sacrificed a goat for fertility and a dog for purification. The goat's hide would then be cut into strips, dipped in sacrificial blood and be carried to the streets by boys, who would gently slap both women and fields of crops with the strips. Women welcomed the tradition, because they believed that those who were slapped with the goat hide were more fertile in the coming year.
The celebration also included a lottery of sorts. Women's names would be deposited in an urn, and bachelors would draw a name and become paired for the year (or some say the evening) with his chosen woman. Many of these drawings resulted in marriage.
The church thought the ritual of Lupercalia was un-Christian, and it was outlawed. In 498 A.D., Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 St. Valentine's Day, a day for romance. And the common belief that flourished in France and England that Feb. 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season only added to the romance of the holiday.
The oldest-known Valentine still in existence was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415. It can be viewed today at the British Museum in London, England.
In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be celebrated popularly by the 17th century, and all social classes celebrated the holiday by the 18th century. By the end of the 18th century, cards were available commercially.
In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church dropped the celebration from its calendar, making the holiday truly secular.
Today, Valentine's Day is the second-largest card-sending holiday of the year, trailing only Christmas. Several countries celebrate the holiday, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France and Australia.
But isn't the holiday named after a saint? Who was that guy, anyway?
There's no easy answer to that question. It seems Roman tradition and Christianity combined to create this day devoted to love.
Legends abound about a mysteriously romantic St. Valentine who wed lovelorn couples during the reign of Claudius II in the third century A.D. The emperor had outlawed marriages to increase numbers in his army, and the sympathetic priest married couples in secrecy.
The story goes on to say that when the priest was caught and jailed, he met a jailer's blind daughter, who he cured with his strong faith. He also supposedly fell in love with her and send her a note before he was killed, signed "Your Valentine" -- which is where the famous phrase originated.
In reality, there are three Saint Valentines on record. The first was priest in Rome who assisted martyrs who were persecuted under Claudius II. He was beheaded in 270 because he wouldn't renounce his faith. The second St. Valentine was a bishop of Interamna (now Terni, located about 60 miles from Rome) who was also martyred under the reign of Claudius II. The third bearer of the name suffered martyrdom in Africa along with some companions -- but nothing further is known of this saint.
St. Valentine the priest was named the patron saint of lovers by the Catholic Church 200 years after his death as an attempt to quell the celebration of the pagan Lupercalia festival that took place in the middle of February.
The festival was a fertility celebration dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture. In it, priests sacrificed a goat for fertility and a dog for purification. The goat's hide would then be cut into strips, dipped in sacrificial blood and be carried to the streets by boys, who would gently slap both women and fields of crops with the strips. Women welcomed the tradition, because they believed that those who were slapped with the goat hide were more fertile in the coming year.
The celebration also included a lottery of sorts. Women's names would be deposited in an urn, and bachelors would draw a name and become paired for the year (or some say the evening) with his chosen woman. Many of these drawings resulted in marriage.
The church thought the ritual of Lupercalia was un-Christian, and it was outlawed. In 498 A.D., Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 St. Valentine's Day, a day for romance. And the common belief that flourished in France and England that Feb. 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season only added to the romance of the holiday.
The oldest-known Valentine still in existence was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415. It can be viewed today at the British Museum in London, England.
In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be celebrated popularly by the 17th century, and all social classes celebrated the holiday by the 18th century. By the end of the 18th century, cards were available commercially.
In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church dropped the celebration from its calendar, making the holiday truly secular.
Today, Valentine's Day is the second-largest card-sending holiday of the year, trailing only Christmas. Several countries celebrate the holiday, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France and Australia.
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