Valentine’s Day….What Exactly Are We Celebrating?

It's almost that time. You've seen the overkill of heart shaped candy boxes and giant stuffed teddy bears in the local stores. Every commercial that comes on TV and Radio has some sort of love theme. It's Valentine's Day. Personally, my wife and I don't celebrate it much. We might get each other some small card or maybe some candy but we don't take it very seriously. However, people all over the Christian world celebrate it. But, do you know the history behind the tradition? No? Well buckle up...here's the short version.

St. Valentine was a priest back in the late 400's AD who went against Roman Emperor Claudius II and performed marriages between soldiers and their respective mates. Something old Claudius didn't condone. So, for this troubles, St. Valentine was sentenced to death. During his imprisonment before death, Valentine fell in love with his jailer's daughter and miraculously cured her of blindness. Before his death, Valentine wrote a love letter to her and signed it "From your Valentine" thus marking the very first Valentine ever given. Pretty cool huh?

To honor him, Pope Galacious I declared that February 14th henceforth be known as "St. Valentine's Day" in 496 AD.

Now some people believe the Pope chose the date to coincide with the Pagan ritual known as Lupercalia. Basically a Pagan holiday celebrating a Roman God as well as the founders of Rome. Brothers Romulus and Remus. (Sidenote...Romulus would later kill his brother Remus hence the name Rome....Romulus...get the connection?) The festival consists of 3 days of sacrifice, feasting and sex. Sounds like a hell of a party.

Fast forward to the 1800's. A woman named Esther Howland was a business woman who capitalized on an artist's visualization of love and produced the first American Valentine's Day greeting cards. So, in essence, you can't really blame the greeting card companies for cashing in on a good idea. So think about that before you blame them for "inventing" Valentine's Day. They didn't.

Now go spread the love.