Exactly Who was St. Valentine?

Valentine's Day is a traditionally romantic day for lovers. Children hand out valentine cards to their friends, adults buy flowers, candy, wine, dinners, special jewelry and a lot of other gifts for their sweethearts to celebrate their love for one another. Many write letters or pretty cards to declare their affection for another. For the most part, no one questions why they do these things, what makes this one day special, who St. Valentine was, they simply follow the commercials to the check stand without any clue as to why they are compelled on this particular day to do so.

The history of Valentine's Day is worth the time to note. Knowing the background of the day will give it a special meaning that not many will share. It seems that there are several variations on the origin of the traditional Valentine's Day, as well as on the history of the Saint named Valentine. There are as many as three St. Valentines noted in various historical accounts. One was a priest, another was a bishop, these two living very close to the same time and area near Rome, and a third who was located in Africa. The one of the three most likely to have been the inspiration for the celebration named St. Valentine's Day was a priest in Rome in the time of Emperor Claudius II. He was executed on February 14, 269 (AD).

In the time of the mid third century, Rome traditionally celebrated a pagan festival called Lupercalia to honor Juno, the Queen of the Gods and Goddesses. As a part of the feast and festival, all the young maidens' names were placed in jars, and then drawn by the young men. For the next year, the pairings would continue, often with marriages resulting. During the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius the Cruel, many bloody and protracted battles were fought. It came to Claudius that soldiers who had wives were less likely to take risks in battle, and young men with wives were less likely to become soldiers. His assessment led him to order that all engagements and weddings be cancelled and forbidden. The Feast of Lupercalia was changed and the young men were only allowed to draw the names of the saints from the jars, and were ordered to emulate the lives of whatever saint they had drawn.

Valentine was a Roman priest who abhorred the declaration of Claudius that engagements and marriages be forbidden. Valentine assisted many Christians, then being persecuted and tortured in prisons, to avoid prison, and some legends say he actually assisted some in escape. In addition, he began performing Christian marriage ceremonies against the direct edict of the throne. When he was caught, and after beating and other tortures, refused to denounce his belief in Christ, he is believed to have been beheaded on February 14, 269. Some legends also contend that Valentine had become enamored of the young daughter of his jailer, and before his execution, wrote her a note and signed it, "from your Valentine".