St. Valentine, Cupid and Roses

February 14th, the holiday of Love! Every February, across the country, chocolates, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. Who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday?

Who Was St. Valentine?

As with so many of these traditions revolving around martyred saints, there is some degree of murkiness surrounding St. Valentine. There are generally held to be three different saints of that name, martyred in the early centuries of Christianity. There was a St. Valentine of Terni (killed around AD 197), St. Valentine of Rome (killed around AD 269), and a third St. Valentine who is mentioned as being martyred in Africa along with companions. This is the date given as February 14th.

By the 14th Century, no one really paid any attention to the differences between the saints named Valentine, and romantic stories grew up around the idea of a saint. In one story, Valentine performs secret marriages in defiance of the emperor of Rome, who wanted unmarried men for his armies. In another, Valentine is jailed, falling in love with the jailer’s daughter. He sends her handwritten notes, signed, “your Valentine.”