The Origin of the Valentine's Day Holiday

The origins of Valentine's day can be traced back to the Medieval era and associated with a Catholic Church feast day. But the ties to love and fertility come from the ancient times of Greece, when the Athens calendar included a period between mid-January and mid-February called the Gamelion, a month dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera, hence the association with love and fertility.

Most scholars believe that the St. Valentine of the holiday was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. During this time, around 270 A.D., emperor Claudius ll prohibited marriages for young men, claiming that bachelors made better soldiers. Valentine continued to secretly perform marriage ceremonies but was eventually apprehended by the Romans and ordered by Claudius to be put to death. But his courageous blessing of the bonds of love may have earned him a notable place in history.

Another legend has it that Valentine, imprisoned by Claudius; fell in love with the daughter of his jailer who visited him during confinement. Before he was executed, he allegedly sent her a letter signed "from your Valentine" an expression that is still used today. We could say this marked the very first Valentine’s Day.

Possibly the most plausible story surrounding St. Valentine and his day is one not focused on Eros(passionate love) but on agape (Christian love): he was martyred for refusing to renounce his religion. Subsequently, his love for his god may have gone down in history. It could be that we celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14th because this is the day that St. Valentine died.

However, many believe that the celebration of Valentine’s Day was an attempt by the Church to get rid of a pagan festival. The Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus taking place on February 15. Participants in this festival sacrificed goats to the god Lupercus on this day and after drinking wine, they ran through the Roman streets holding pieces of goat and touching anyone in their run including women in the belief to receive an easy childbirth. The Lupercalia festival was outlawed as un-Christian, and Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D.