Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, February 14. Celebrated by exchanging cards, candy, and tokens of affection. Saint Valentine is the patron saint of lovers.

The Origins of Valentine's Day

The legend of Saint Valentine. There is some doubt as to the true identity of Saint Valentine, and in fact it is possible that there were as many of three Valentines. However, the legend is as follows. Emperor Claudius of Rome attempted to abolish marriage because he felt married men did not make good soldiers. Valentine, a priest, then married lovers secretly. The Emperor learned of this and had Valentine imprisoned, where he died on February 14, 271 A.D. This is probably only a popular legend, and the customs more likely pagan. There are acutally two Saint Valentines whose feast day is on February 14. The second was a Bishop of Terni, or possibly Teramo, Italy, who was martyred two or three years later.
Lupercalia. The customs of Valentine's Day may go back to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was held annually on February 15 and honored Lupercus, the god of fertility, woodlands, and pastures. The customs of Lupercalia included boys drawing girls' names from a box, which would pair them off as couples for the year. In 494 [496?], Bishop Gelasius replaced Lupercalia with the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, also known as Candlemas. Old Candlemas Day was celebrated on February 14, but is now observed on the second.
Mating season.. An alternate theory for the origin of the customs is that it is derived from the mating season for birds. It was popularly believed in medieval England and France that at the start of the second fortnight in February that the birds begin to mate.