Valentine’s Day is a special holiday celebrated on February 14th to commemorate and celebrate loved ones. There are many religious, cultural, and historical origins of this holiday. In the Catholic Church, they recognized three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, whom they were all martyred. One legend says that St. Valentine was a priest who served the Romans in the third century. Emperor Claudius II decided that single men should not get married or be in families, but rather serve in the military as soldiers. St. Valentine did not agree with the rule made by the Emperor and continued to perform marriages for young couples in secret. Later, Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine’s actions and sentenced him to death. Another legend that others insist on is Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop and the true namesake of the holiday. Sadly, he was also beheaded by Emperor Claudius II outside of Rome for his beliefs on love and marriage. It was alleged that before his death he signed a letter saying “From your Valentine,” which is now a common expression used today. 

The Pagans celebrate another origin of Valentine’s with a festival in February. Was Luperalia, a fertility festival dedicated to Fannus, the Roman god of agriculture and the Roman founders of Romulus and Remus. To start the festival, members of Luperci; a group of Roman priests, would gather in this sacred cave where infants, Romulus and Remus, were cared for. The group of priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would strip the goat’s hide into strips and dip them in sacrificial blood, where they would take them to the streets. This would be given to Roman women and crop fields. Far from being fearful, the Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because they believed it would make them fertile for the upcoming year. According to the legend, the following day, all the young women in the city place their names in a big urn, and the city’s bachelors would choose a name and be paired with the chosen women for a year. These matches would often end in marriage for young couples. 

Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is questionable, the stories empathize with a sympathetic, heroic, and romantic figure who believed in love and liked to acknowledge and celebrate it with loved ones.