Is Valentine’s Day the second biggest holiday of the year for sending cards, second only to Christmas?

…Women buy about 85% of Valentine’s gifts?

…Valentine’s Day is also celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Australia?

…In February 2004, jewelry worth 2.4 billion dollars was purchased?

While a few things may be known about the origins of Valentine’s Day, one thing we don’t know for sure is where or when we first started celebrating amore, though many stories have been told over the years. I have been reading some of the legends and myths and I want to share them with you. I have my favorite. Now you choose yours.

Stories about Valentine’s

One story alleges that Valentine was a priest living in 3rd century Rome. His history is deeply entangled with that of Emperor Claudius II (aka: Claudius the Cruel), who ruled Rome at the time. Claudius was involved in many wars around Rome, but he couldn’t convince many men to leave their wives and families. His solution was to forbid the marriage and cancel all engagements. The men could then concentrate on waging the war. Valentine, believing that this law was unfair, began secretly marrying couples. When Claudio found out what Valentine was doing, it is said that he had him executed.

Another story shows Claudius killing Valentine for helping Christians escape from Roman prisons, where they were regularly beaten and tortured.

However, a third story claims that Valentin was executed for curing the jailer’s daughter of her blindness. He frequently visited Valentine while he was incarcerated. It was said that they had fallen in love. In fact, Valentine may have given rise to the tradition of sending written declarations of love and romance. Before he was executed, Valentine allegedly wrote him a letter, signing it “From your Valentine”, an expression we continue to use today. It is believed that he was executed on February 14, 269 AD Thus, Valentine became a romantic and a hero.

The party of the lupercalias

The Feast of Lupercalia may have been the first legend told around the beginnings of Valentine’s Day. Lupercalia, a fertility festival held on February 15, was a celebration of Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture. Lupercalia was also a dedication to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. Lupercus was said to guard the herdsmen’s flocks, keeping them safe from wolves. The Roman priests would sacrifice a goat and a dog to start the festival. The goat represented fertility, while the dog symbolized purification.

The skin of the goat was then cut into strips and dipped in the blood of the sacrifice. The men poured out into the street, gently slapping the women with the goatskin thongs. The women welcomed this gesture as they believed it would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later that same day, all the names of the unmarried women were placed in an urn. Singles would draw a name from the ballot box. The couple would spend a lot of time together over the next year and many of these pairings resulted in marriage.

The Festival of Lupercalia continued for centuries. However, as Christianity began to take hold, priests strove to replace pagan practices by substituting girls’ names for saints’ names. Those who drew from the urn would then aspire to imitate the life of the saint whose name they had drawn. Although the priests wanted to abolish pagan traditions, they sought to maintain the festive flavor of festivals and sports. Thus, Lupercalia became Valentine’s Day.

Traditions through the ages

The origins of our modern valentines probably date back to the early 15th century. While a prisoner in the Tower of London, the French Duke of Orleans wrote many, many poems and Valentines for his wife. Some of these remain and are on display at the British Museum in London. Flowers became popular gifts some 200 years later in France.

Americans began the tradition of exchanging handmade Valentine’s cards in the early 18th century. Today, every February, across the United States, we celebrate our love and loved ones on Valentine’s Day with Valentine’s Day gifts, flowers, candy, and greeting cards. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers and we continue to celebrate the spirit of love and feeling and good feelings.