Valentine’s Day is generally traced back to Lupercalia, a Roman feast that was celebrated on February 15 and dedicated to their god Lupercus. Roman shepherds believed that Lupercus protected their animals by killing the wolves that hunted them. To thank Lupercus, they held a feast in his honor. They celebrated the beginning of Spring on the same day. The day before this feast, the local girls all put their names in a jar. All the boys drew a name. The girl whose name he chose became his partner for the feast day games.
Two stories explain who Valentine’s Day was named after. They both refer to the same man. One says that Valentine, a Catholic priest, secretly performed the wedding ceremonies for several couples in spite of a new law that forbid couples to marry. Another story says that Valentine illegally helped the Christians who were being persecuted by the Romans.
Either way, he wound up in jail. There he formed a close friendship with the jailer’s blind daughter and restored her sight. After converting the jailor and his daughter to Christianity, Valentine was condemned to be beaten and beheaded. On the eve of his execution Valentine wrote a farewell message to the girl that he signed, “From your Valentine.” The date of his execution is generally given as February 14, 270.
As Christianity spread, the church was anxious to eliminate the pagan customs it was encountering. One of the simplest ways to do this was by turning the pagan festivals into Christian feasts. Historians believe that this is how the death of Saint Valentine on February 14 and the feast of Lupercalia became connected.
Cupid was a Roman god. His mother was Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. His father was Mars, the Roman god of war. Cupid shot his father’s invisible arrows into people’s hearts to make them fall in love.
The oldest existing valentine is from 1415. It was written by the Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was in prison in the Tower of London.
In the 16th century, St. Francis de Sales, the head of the Church of England, forbid people to send valentine. No one heeded him.
As more people learned to read and write during the 1500s, they began to send love letters to their sweethearts. These valentines were similar to the ones we see today.
In 1628 the first chocolates were given as a gift.
It cost too much to send a valentine through the mail until the 1800s, so most people delivered their Valentine’s cards to their sweethearts in person. Common symbols on these Valentine’s included flaming hearts, cooing birds, joined hands, cupids, bows and arrows, rings and flowers.
People used to believe that our souls lived in our heart. Many also believed that the power to think and feel resided here as well. These beliefs led to the heart becoming a favorite symbol for Valentine’s Day.
Beautiful flowers have reminded people of love for hundreds of years. Red has long been associated with passion, so it was natural for the red rose to become the flower of love.
Birds remind people of the spring mating season. People used to believe that birds chose a mate on the first day of Spring, celebrated by the Romans on Valentine’s Day.
The feast day of St. Valentine was dropped off the Roman Church calendar in 1969.