Valentine’s Day: a origin story

For many, myself included, celebrating Valentine’s day was something we sort of, well just did. Right? As children we passed around Valentine’s cards to our classmates and as we got older we begun gift giving and being enveloped by romance. How many of us actually know the reason for why on this one day we feel especially compassionate and inspired? I’ve done some digging and here is what I found.

This guy, Saint Valentine, also officially known as St. Valentine of Rome, was a third-century roman saint commonly associated with “courtly love”. It’s what he does upon his execution that has inspired us to widely celebrate love on February 14th.

Although, not much is actually known about his life and whether or not the stories involve two different saints with the same name is also under scrutiny. Nevertheless, it is highly agreed that St. Valentine was martyred and then buried on the Via Flaminia to the north of Rome.

In 1969, the roman church removed St. Valentine from the general roman calendar, because so little is actually known about him. However, the church continues to acknowledge him as a saint, listing him in the February 14th spot of roman martyrology.

The legends around the enigmatic saint are as inconsistent as the actual identification of the man.

One common story about St. Valentine is that at some point in his life, he was on house arrest with a jugge named Asterius. It was while discussing religion and faith with the judge that Valentine pledged the validity of Jesus. The judge immediately put Valentine and his faith to the test.

Judge Asterius brought his blind daughter Julia to the saint and told him to restore her sight. If he succeeded, the judge swore to do anything for Valentine. So, placing his hands on her eyes, Valentine restored Julia’s vision.

The judge humbly obeyed Valentine’s requests. He broke all the idols around his house, fasted for three days, become baptized – along with his family and entire household. The now faithful judge freed all of his Christian prisoners.

Unfortunately, St. Valentine was later arrested for trying to covert people to Christianity. He was sent to Rome under Emperor Claudius (Claudius II). According to popular hagiographical identity, and what is believed to be the first representation of St. Valentine, he was martyred during Claudius’s reign. The story goes that St. Valentine was imprisoned for marrying Christian couples and aiding Christians being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Both acts were considered seriously heinous crimes.

While imprisoned St. Valentine refused to renounce his faith and before his execution, he left a note for a friend in which he kept in contact during his incarceration, Julia. It was a note that encouraged her to stay close to Jesus and he thanked her for being his friend. He signed the note: From your Valentine. That note has inspired people to begin writing their own loving and heartfelt messages to people on February 14th ever since.

Valentine was beaten, stoned, and beheaded on February 14th, 270. People remembered his loving service and many young couples began celebrating his life. Valentine became regarded as a saint through whom God had worked to help people in miraculous ways. By the year 496, Pope Gelasius designated February 14th as Valentine’s official Feast Day.

St. Valentine died supporting human connection, but was ultimately immortalized for the love and friendship he had in Julia, who stayed a true friend throughout his prison sentence.

Valentine’s Day!!

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