Despite the frigid temperatures, February warms our hearts with love and romance. Children decorate shoe boxes with tissue paper and candied hearts. They have hopes of receiving a message from their secret admirer. Women dream about suitors presenting them with diamond rings. Married couples, smiling to one another, reminisce about their early days of courtship. What makes February different from other months? Valentine’s Day, of course!

Our Gregorian calendar marks February 14th as a special day, similar to Thanksgiving and Christmas. We set Valentine’s Day aside to celebrate and commemorate our love for one another. However, unlike the other holidays, most Americans are not familiar with the origin of Valentine’s Day. This is through no fault of our own. The history and legends surrounding Valentine’s Day date back to Ancient Rome. The legends are mysterious and confusing. This is partly because the Catholic Church recognizes three martyred saints, all of whom are named Valentine.

Legends About Valentine’s Day

A well-known and commonly accepted legend points to a priest who lived during the rule of Emperor Claudius in 3rd Century AD. The emperor believed single men made better soldiers than married ones; therefore, he forbade young men to marry. When he discovered that Valentine was secretly performing marriage ceremonies, Claudius imprisoned the priest and sentenced him to death. Some traditions suggest that Valentine fell in love with his jailer’s blind daughter, Julia, while awaiting execution. As a result of the time Valentine spent studying the Scriptures with her, Julia submitted her life to Christ and subsequently recovered her sight. Prior to his execution on February 14, Valentine sent his beloved a note confessing his love. The note was signed, “From Your Valentine.” 

The ancient Romans celebrated Lupercalia, a fertility festival dedicated to the mythical founders of Rome on the fifteenth of February. In addition to Romulus and Remus, the Romans used this festival to recognize their god of agriculture: Faunus. It’s a high probability that the Catholic Church attempted to downplay or Christianize Lupercalia by declaring February 14th as a feast day commemorating Valentine’s commitment to love and romance.

Britain’s acclaimed poet of the 14th Century, Geoffrey Chaucer, was the first person to mention Valentine’s Day in a formal writing.

The oldest Valentine in existence today was a poem written in 1415 AD. It is housed in the British Library in London, England. According to the History Channel, this poem was written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, after he was captured at the Battle of Agincourt and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Tragically, Charles was kept in the tower for twenty-five years. He and his wife were never reunited before she died. (Valentine’s Day 2023: Origins, Background & Traditions | HISTORY)

Valentine’s Day Traditions

Our time-honored tradition of exchanging small gifts and cards of appreciation began in the 19th Century during the Victorian Age.

While doing my research, I couldn’t help but wonder if Queen Victoria and her subjects would be surprised to know that Valentine’s Day has now grown into a twenty billion dollar industry: Approximately 4.7 billion dollars will be spent on jewelry. One hundred forty-five million Hallmark cards, thirty-six million heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolates, and eight billion conversation candies with messages like “Be Mine” will be sold. (Valentine’s Day Origin, History, and Facts (countryliving.com)

As we search for the perfect expression of our love this February, may we always remember the words that Christ spoke to his disciples during the Last Supper: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34 ESV). Legends aside, this is the TRUE origin of Valentine’s Day.