Happy St. Valentines Day The Legend of St. Valentine

Happy St. Valentines Day will you be my Valentine? Here’s the short history of Valentine’s Day. The story of a patron saint, st. valentines, is shrouded in mystery for centuries. We know because February has long been celebrated as the month of romance Americans found Fevruary as St. Valentine’s Day. Containing vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition orginial St. Valentine meanings have changed over time. There is dogma associated with this famous holiday.  But who was Saint Valentine? How did he become part of this ancient rite?

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to do marriages for young lovers in secret. Claudius hearing this, ordered Valentine to be put to death.

Other stories suggest that the killing  of Valentine was due to him attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons. Young Romans regularlly faced beatings and torture when questioning Claudius’s authority.

According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first valentine greeting to himself. He did so after he fell in love with a girl, possibly his jailor’s daughter, who visited him during his confinement.

Before he died, he wrote the girl a letter and signed it From your Valentine, an expression we still use today. Although the truth behind Valentine’s legends is murky at best, as a result the stories all emphasize his appeal for being sympathetic, heroic and most importantly romantic. Consequently, by the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Origins of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival in February

Some Romans believed celebrating Valentine’s Day in the middle of February seemed like a great idea because it mirrored the date commemorating the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial. Valentine’s death occurred around A.D. 270. Others claimed the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia.

On the ides of February, (February 15) Romans celebrated Lupercalia, a fertility festival for the Roman god of agriculture Faunus. Most of all Roman founders Romulus and Remus were also honored as Romans believed when infants, Romulus and Remus were raised by a she wolf, Lupa. Finally, to begin the festival, Romian Priests of the Luperci, order, would gather at a sacred cave.  Read more…

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