Valentines Day is today! But how did this holiday come to be? Originating in Rome, it was named after at least 1 of 3 different saints. All of them were saints recognized by the Catholic Church who were martyred by the Romans. It is unsure which specific saint the holiday is named after, with all three of them having the exact same name.
One of the first saints resided in Rome as a priest. He was martyred by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus. During 270 CE, he outlawed marriage for young men, claiming that single young men made better soldiers. This ST. Valentine went directly against this and would marry couples in secret, earning him the title Saint of love and happy marriages. Brittanica states, ” According to legend, the priest signed a letter “from your Valentine” to his jailer’s daughter, whom he had befriended and, by some accounts, healed from blindness.” He was also arrested for his faith, as being Catholic was outlawed. After being arrested, he was executed.
It might have also been St. Valentine of Terni, then called Interamna, located 60 miles from Rome. He was killed under the same Emperor’s rule. Though he was a bishop, some believe him and the priest were the same person. The only thing known about the third saint is that he was martyred in Africa with his companions.
The holiday also largely stems from the Roman festival called Lupercal. The festival takes place to please the Roman God Lupercus. It also serves to honor she-wolf that cared for Romulus and Remus – the ancient king King Amulius’s twin nephews. The were almost drowned by Amulius to pay for their mother’s broken vow of celibacy, before a servant took pity on them and sent them away in a basket down a river, carried away by the river god. According to History.com editors, the she-wolf “cared for by a she-wolf in a den at the base of Palatine Hill where Rome was founded.”
The holiday of Valentine’s has since transformed and stretched far and wide around the globe, with about 30 countries world-wide celebrating in their own ways. Have a happy Valentine’s Day!
