The History of Valentine's Day

If there is a single day dedicated to romance, to love, and to matters of the heart then it is February 14th or Valentine's Day. Sales of roses rise on that day as do chocolate sales and more cards are sent at Valentine's Day than at any other time except Christmas. Lovers exchange gifts while many Americans buy small tokens of affection for family and friends.

Restaurants offer special dinners for two and intimate dining with candlelit ambiance is popular. Romantic movies, romance books, lingerie, perfumes and scented candles, and anything colored red or pink are the order of Valentine's day. Singles hope to receive a gift from significant others while married folk rekindle the passion that sparked their union. Florists are busy and stores stock multiple heart shaped boxes of chocolate well in advance of the day. As American celebrate Valentine's Day few are aware that the history of this romantic festival is steeped in mystery and dates back over many centuries.

Long before the city of Rome was the centerpiece of an empire that stretched into Africa and north into Britain, Romans celebrated a feast in mid-February called Lupercalia. Originally to honor Lupercalia, a pagan god who delivered the flocks from roaming wolves, the holiday changed over many centuries to focus on lovers. Lupercalia became a Roman holiday, a day when young men often drew names of willing young woman in a lottery who became their partners for the festival and sometimes for a year. As Christianity slowed replaced the old gods of Rome, Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD decreed that the Lupercalia lottery would be ended and that young people of both genders would draw the name of a saint whose holy life they would strive to emulate in the coming year.