The history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?
Yes, there actually was a Saint Valentine. Several actually—martyrs all, and all are honored on February 14. Back in the era of Late Antiquity, the name “Valentine” was a common name for boys. The name comes from the word for valor; a fitting name for Christian martyrs.
But February 14 is not a group-celebration for all the Valentine men; it points to one Saint in particular—St. Valentine of Rome. He was a physician and a priest—there is some evidence that he was also a bishop, but time has made his episcopacy somewhat unverifiable.
The 3rd Century Roman emperor Claudius II only reigned over the empire for 2 years, but those two years were bent on military power. Claudius II would lead attacks on the Goths and the Gauls, each with swift and decisive success. Claudius II believed that Roman soldiers should be unmarried men, since men with wives are distracted by their obligations at home. This did not, however, stop the Roman soldiers from falling in love—and wanting to marry the beautiful Mediterranean women of the Empire.
Father Valentine in Rome would perform weddings for the lovestruck couples, in bold defiance of the orders of the Emperor. He also ministered to Christians persecuted by the Roman government, defying the decrees of the Empire to do the Lord’s work, no matter what it cost him.
And ultimately, it cost him his life.
Father Valentine was arrested, dragged to a Roman court and threatened with his life if he did not renounce his Christian faith. Valentine, again boldly defiant in loyal service to the Lord, refused to abandon Jesus Christ. He was condemned, clubbed and beheaded, going to his eternal reward on February 14 in the year 269. He was buried in a roadside cemetery near modern-day Tivoli, where his body remained until 1836, when his bones were dug up and transferred to (interestingly and inexplicably) to the Whitefriar Church in Dublin, Ireland by the papal decree of Pope Gregory XVI.
Some historians and martyrologies separate St. Valentine of Rome and St. Valentine of Terni, others do not distinguish their stories. Truth be told, there is not a lot of verifiable data on either man other than the pious traditions that conflate their stories (and perhaps some of the stories of other Valentines), and scholars sometimes have a hard time sorting out who’s who. This doesn’t bother me a bit. From what I know of the Valentine martyrs of the era, they wouldn’t mind standing as examples that point people to Christ today, even if they do get a little mixed together. At least, I hope they wouldn’t mind.
Because of his unwavering work for the poor, persecuted, and the young-and in-love, Saint Valentine of Rome is the patron saint of young people, engaged couples, apiarists and married couples. He is a patron against epilepsy, against fainting and against plague. Valentine is also the patron saint of greeting card manufacturers, for understandable reasons.
A very old pagan celebration called Lupercalia was a Roman ritual to the god Lupercus, where sacrificing dogs, goats and vestal virgin priestesses while lining up young girls and women to be publicly whipped by essentially-naked men (covered only by strategically-placed goat skins)—all of which would ensure health and fertility for another year. During the festival, young women would place their names in a large urn. The young men would draw a name from the urn and then be romantically linked with that young woman for the following year in honor of the sex and fertility goddess Februata Juno. Lupercalia lasted for several days, beginning on February 15. The festival was Christianized in the 5th Century, with the pagan practices suppressed, while an emphasis on the godly lives of saints like Valentine replaced the carnal practices of Lupercalia.
Valentine's Day and Romance
There is also a belief arising in the middle-ages that mid-way through February is where young birds find their lifelong mates—an appropriate symbol for the lifelong love of Christian marriage, and a convenient tie-in for the feast day of a martyr who gave his life marrying young couples. So men would ask ladies for their love on St. Valentine’s Day. The oldest known Valentine’s Day card is a letter from the year 1477—a photo of the card and its text is reproduced on the Fisheaters website. Surprisingly, it does not accompany a lollipop or a small package of Lik-M-Aid sugar, and does not appear to be passed out at a candy infused eight-year-old’s school party, but is a breathy letter from a young woman to a man—both secretly in love. It implores: “Right reverent and worshipful and my right well-beloved valentine, I recommend me unto you full heartedly, desiring to hear of your welfare, which I beseech Almighty God long for to preserve unto his pleasure and your hearts desire.”
The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer wrote:
For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.
["For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate."
This poem was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia.[20] A treaty providing for a marriage was signed on May 2, 1381. (When they were married eight months later, they were each only 15 years old).
Readers have uncritically assumed that Chaucer was referring to February 14 as Valentine's Day; however, mid-February is an unlikely time for birds to be mating in England. Henry Ansgar Kelly has pointed out[22] that in the liturgical calendar, May 2 is the saints' day for Valentine of Genoa. This St. Valentine was an early bishop of Genoa who died around AD 307.[23]
Chaucer's Parliament of Foules is set in a fictional context of an old tradition, but in fact there was no such tradition before Chaucer. The speculative explanation of sentimental customs, posing as historical fact, had their origins among 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, the author of Butler's Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars. Most notably, "the idea that Valentine's Day customs perpetuated those of the Roman Lupercalia has been accepted uncritically and repeated, in various forms, up to the present".
Valentine's Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in Hamlet (1600–1601):
To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine. Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes, And dupp'd the chamber-door; Let in the maid, that out a maid Never departed more. —William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5
Valentine's Day Cards and Gifts
In 1797, a British publisher issued The Young Man's Valentine Writer, which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called "mechanical valentines," and a reduction in postal rates in the next century ushered in the less personal but easier practice of mailing Valentines. That, in turn, made it possible for the first time to exchange cards anonymously, which is taken as the reason for the sudden appearance of racy verse in an era otherwise prudishly Victorian.
Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid-19th century.[32] In the UK, just under half of the population spend money on their Valentines and around 1.3 billion pounds are spent yearly on cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts, with an estimated 25 million cards being sent.[33] The reinvention of Saint Valentine's Day in the 1840s has been traced by Leigh Eric Schmidt.[34] As a writer in Graham's American Monthly observed in 1849, "Saint Valentine's Day... is becoming, nay it has become, a national holyday."[35] In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland (1828–1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Child dressed in Valentine's Day-themed clothing.Her father operated a large book and stationery store, but Howland took her inspiration from an English Valentine she had received from a business associate of her father. Intrigued with the idea of making similar Valentines, Howland began her business by importing paper lace and floral decorations from England. The English practice of sending Valentine's cards was established enough to feature as a plot device in Elizabeth Gaskell's Mr. Harrison's Confessions (1851): "I burst in with my explanations: '"The valentine I know nothing about." '"It is in your handwriting", said he coldly. Since 2001, the Greeting Card Association has been giving an annual "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary."
Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The mid-19th century Valentine's Day trade was a harbinger of further commercialized holidays in the United States to follow.
In the second half of the 20th century, the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manner of gifts in the United States. Such gifts typically include roses and chocolates packed in a red satin, heart-shaped box. In the 1980s, the diamond industry began to promote Valentine's Day as an occasion for giving jewelry.
In the second half of the 20th century, the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manner of gifts in the United States. Such gifts typically include roses and chocolates packed in a red satin, heart-shaped box. In the 1980s, the diamond industry began to promote Valentine's Day as an occasion for giving jewelry.
The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US. Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife, usually to children. When you include the valentine-exchange cards made in school activities the figure goes up to 1 billion, and teachers become the people receiving the most valentines.[36] In some North American elementary schools, children decorate classrooms, exchange cards, and are given sweets. The greeting cards of these students sometimes mention what they appreciate about each other.
The rise of Internet popularity at the turn of the millennium is creating new traditions. Millions of people use, every year, digital means of creating and sending Valentine's Day greeting messages such as e-cards, love coupons or printable greeting cards. An estimated 15 million e-valentines were sent in 2010.
