by Kristin Francis

Created on: February 11, 2010

It’s that time of year when mass quantities of red, pink, and white roses wrapped tenderly in green tissue paper with satiny ribbon are sold.  Heart-shaped charms and engagement rings adorn every jewelry shop window.  Hallmark is raking in the cash thanks to the more than 152 million Valentine’s Day cards being given, which doesn’t include the cards exchanged by school kids.  And don’t forget, the millions of women with almost childlike eagerness awaiting their white knight to show up and shower them with the perfect Valentine celebration.

What exactly is the history of Valentine’s Day?  Why should Christians celebrate it?  While I feel that yes, as a Christian AND Catholic, we should celebrate the love and giving of St. Valentine's Day, I do not feel that we should celebrate it only as a way to show love towards a significant other.  In the true history of St. Valentine himself, it was in showing love to our fellow man.  There are many theories about St. Valentine and exactly what the reasoning of his becoming the patron saint of love and marriages.  Valentine was a holy Catholic priest that along with St. Maruis and his family helped those being persecuted under Claudius II. 

Claudius found that soldiers were better warriors if not married, and therefore, abolished nuptials for young men.  Valentine believed this to be unjust, continued to perform the holy ceremonies, and thus was arrested.  Whilst holding steadfast to his faith, the emperor sentenced him to horrific beatings and eventual death.  He was beheaded on February 14 circa 270 AD. 

But why would such a fateful tale become the holiday of love?  As saints are not to rest on their laurels, whether jailed or even dead (he was martyred in 269 AD), the rest of the story of St. Valentine is that while held captive, he met the jailer’s daughter and restored her sight.  He may have even fallen in love with her.  On the eve of his death, he wrote this young girl a note, signed, “From your Valentine.”  This legend, along with his belief in love and marriage and his history of performing ceremonies no matter the cost to his own well-being, makes perfect sense for our romantic ideals of Shakespearean-type love.

When archeologists located a Roman catacombs dedicated to St. Valentine around 496 AD, Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as the celebration of this martyrdom. 

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