Origin of Valentine's Day

Many of the traditions of Valentine's Day originated in ancient Roman celebrations.
February 14th was a festival day which honored the pagan goddess Juno,
the goddess of women & marriage. The following day, began the Feast of Lupercalia.

In ancient Roman times, the lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate.
However, on the eve of the Festival of Lupercalia, the names of Roman girls
were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw
a girl's name from the jar; they would then be partners for the duration of the festival.
Sometimes this pairing lasted an entire year, and often,
the couple would fall in love and would later marry.

The actual feast of Valentine's Day originated from St. Valentine,
a priest who was martyred on February 14, 269 A.D., during the reign
of the Emperor Claudius II, who earned the notorious title of Claudius the Cruel.

Under his rule, Rome had been involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns.
Claudius was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues.
He believed the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families.
As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.

Valentine and another saint called Marius aided the lovers by secretly marrying couples.
Valentine was eventually imprisoned, and condemned to be beaten to death with clubs
and to have his head cut off, a fate which occured on the 14th day of February.

The first Valentine note originates from the farewell note left by him
addressed to the jailer's daughter. It had been signed
"From Your Valentine".

Eventually, the Roman Catholic Church endeavored to do away with the pagan elements
of feasts by amending them to celebrations of saints and holy days.
The Feast of Lupercalia was replaced by a day honoring the actions of Saint Valentine.

February 14 thus became the date for exchanging love messages, and St. Valentine
became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers and candy.