Brief Facts About Valentine’s Day You Need To Know

Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14, is a holiday where lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts. Here’s a brief history and some interesting facts about the day:

Origins

The holiday has been suggested to have origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia, held in mid-February, which celebrated the coming of spring and included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by lottery.

At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I forbid the celebration of Lupercalia and is sometimes attributed with replacing it with St. Valentine’s Day.

Saint Valentine

There were several Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day may have taken its name from a priest who was martyred about 270 CE by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus. According to legend, the priest signed a letter “from your Valentine” to his jailer’s daughter, whom he had befriended and, by some accounts, healed from blindness. Another common legend states that St. Valentine defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war.

Celebration

Valentine’s Day did not come to be celebrated as a day of romance until about the 14th century. Today, it is celebrated in many countries around the world, and people exchange candy, flowers, and gifts between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine.

Remember, the true origin of the holiday is vague at best. Despite the different legends and beliefs, the common theme is love and affection, making Valentine’s Day a special occasion for many.