Valentine's day story

The Saint Valentine of Valentine’s Day was one of two guys preaching the good word in Rome in the third century. Photo: Pixabay

Valentine’s Day: the love story behind the big day

Have you’ve ever wondered who started Valentine’s Day, if it’s a pagan celebration, or who St. Valentine was in the first place?

Valentine's day story

The Saint Valentine of Valentine’s Day was one of two guys preaching the good word in Rome in the third century. Photo: Pixabay

We all know that Saint Valentine is the reason for the holiday’s name, of course. But why? Who is this mysterious Saint Valentine?

The New York Times speculates that the holiday may have been inspired by a union of two men.

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In the third century, A.C.E., Claudius II of Rome murdered two lovers on February 14 (though in different years), according to NPR. Valentine’s Day is thought to have been created by the Catholic Church to honour these men, whom they considered to be martyrs.

One of these individuals, Saint Valentine of Terni, may have secretly performed marriage ceremonies for Roman troops in defiance of the emperor’s orders, earning him the reputation of being a supporter of romantic love.

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Writing love letters to your loved one is the subject of another tale. It is said that while St. Valentine was imprisoned for the above-mentioned sins, he penned the first “valentine” message to a young girl he educated and fell in love with.

According to The History Channel, he wrote her a letter before he passed away that was signed, “From your Valentine,” a phrase that is still frequently used today. These stories about love, however, are just legends.

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Although he is still revered as a saint, there is so little historical knowledge about the martyrs who went by the name St. Valentine that the Roman Catholic Church deleted the feast day from its calendar in 1969.

Why is the 14th of February celebrated?

Whether or not Chaucer deserves all the credit, it is undeniable that he and Shakespeare, a fellow author, popularised the passionate connotations associated with the day. Soon, Valentine’s Day love notes were being written and sent back and forth.

Several of the commercialised customs of the 14th of February are still used today dating back to the middle of the 19th century.

Victorian males used flowers to court ladies, Richard Cadbury invented the first box of chocolates in the shape of a heart, and the New England Confectionery Company, or Necco, started stamping out the first Conversation Hearts.

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Around this time, Esther Howland, known as the “Mother of the American Valentine,” who was then in her early 20s, promoted store-bought English-style valentines in America by inventing an efficient assembly line method that reduced the cost of the costly cards.

An American business that would later become Hallmark started selling its more formal “Valentine’s Day cards” in the early 1910s. Of course, the rest is history.

In case you were wondering what the 14th of February was all about, now you are aware of the significance of this special day as a celebration of love.

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