The History of St. Valentine's Day

Today, Valentine's Day is a time of romance, cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts. But do you know where this holiday came from?

The roots of Valentine's Day go all the way back to the third century in Rome. The emperor at the time, Claudius II, was troubled by his army's soldiers. He felt that the married men made worse soldiers than the ones who did not have wives and families to think about. Because of this, he outlawed marriage for young men.

Legend has it that Valentine, a priest, defied Claudius's decree and secretly performed marriages. When Claudius discovered this soft-hearted lawbreaker, he ordered Valentine put to death.

According to another legend, Valentine was the writer of the first "valentine" greeting. A young girl visited him while he was in prison, and he fell in love. He wrote her a letter and signed it, "From your Valentine."

There are several explanations as to why we celebrate St. Valentine's Day in February. Some say it is to commemorate the date when Valentine was put to death. Others say that the Christian church decided to celebrate it in February because this was the time of the pagan Lupercalia festival. If they could "Christianize" this celebration of fertility, they would still be able to celebrate it.

At the Lupercalia festival, all the young women would put their names in an urn. All the unmarried men would choose a name from the urn. The two were then paired for the year, a pairing that often ended in marriage.

It was approximately 498 A.D. when Pope Galasius declared that February 14th was St. Valentine's day. He also outlawed the "lottery" of the Lupercalia festival, calling it un-Christian.

Later, in the middle ages, many believed that February 14 was the beginning of mating season for birds. This belief added to the idea that mid-February should be a time for romance.

Cupid-the winged child-god with his bows and arrows-was not originally part of the Valentine's Day legend. Cupid the son of Venus, the goddess of love, in Roman mythology.