There was in fact an old Roman pagan fertility celebration that occurred each year on February 15 and it was recast as a Christian feast a day earlier sometime around 496 A.D.
But did you know the Catholic Church actually has three Valentines on its books. On the day in question, February 14, it is believed a priest in Rome, a bishop in Terni and another who met his end in Africa, were all martyred.
The St Valentine associated with the big day was, in fact, a priest who attracted the disfavour of Roman Emperor Claudius II in around 270 A.D.
And from here the story becomes a little unclear.
The most popular legend has it that Claudius had prohibited marriage for young men, claiming that bachelors made better soldiers. Our man Valentine disagreed with this view and began secretly performing marriage ceremonies before being caught by the Romans and put to death.
Another version says that Valentine during his imprisonment fell in love with the daughter of his jailer, and before he was executed sent her a letter signed “from your valentine”.
The Catholic Church revised its calendar, removing the feast days of saints whose historical origins were questionable, and St Valentine was one of these.
It wasn’t until 1381 that Chaucer first linked St Valentine’s Day with romance. He composed a poem to honour the first anniversary of the engagement of England’s Richard II to Anne of Bohemia, The Parliament of Foules, and in it he penned the words “or this was on St Valentine Day when every fowl cometh there to choose his mate”.
By the 18th century gift giving and the exchange of handmade cards on Valentine’s day was common in England, but the real idea of the day did not take off in the United States until the 1850s when an enterprising woman decided to start mass production of the cards. Did you know that today it’s said that 25 per cent of all cards sent each year are actually Valentine ‘s Day cards.
OTHER IDEAS
There are a number of other ideas about how St Valentine’s Day came into being including a belief many moons ago by Europeans that on February 14 the birds began to choose their mates.
There was also a Christian tradition in England of drawing names on St Valentine’s Day and the idea of birds choosing their mates led to the idea that boys and girls would do the same. So when a youth drew a girl’s name he wore it on his sleeve while attending and protecting her during the following year. The girl became his valentine and they exchanged love tokens during the year.
And Shakespeare even wrote about the day.
Then there were the Muslim leaders who were quite concerned about where this Valentine’s Day thing was leading their young people.
They questioned that the development of the festival was connected to myths and legends which no sound mind should accept, let alone the mind of a pious Muslim who believes in Allah and His Messengers. The question was also asked whether “anyone can believe that a she wolf suckled the founder of a Roman city and gave him strength and wisdom”.
So, we might ask, why Muslims do not celebrate this festival?
According to a document I came across recently it suggests the question might be answered in several ways.
In Islam, for example, the festivals are clearly defined and well established and they are an essential part of worship.
The Muslims also say that because Valentine’s Day goes back to Roman times and not Islamic times, this means that it is something which belongs exclusively to the Christians and not to Islam.
Well, it’s all water under the bridge for we certainly have been making big things out of the day and have been doing so for years, but it’s amazing when you dig up the past concerning so many of our “days” that the pesky Romans were involved and generally speaking there was a romantic flavour which had some influence.
Thank goodness for the Romans!!
| 
