Valentine's Day - How It All Started

Valentine's Day is an annual holiday that honors lovers around the world. It is celebrated on February 14 by sending Valentine Greeting cards, gifts or even writing poems for expressing affection. Usually the cards, which are called Valentines, are designed with hearts to symbolize love.

This is probably derived from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis, sometimes called Lupercalia. The feast celebration was held through February 13 till 15. In an annual rite of fertility, eligible young men and women would be paired as couples through a town lottery. Briefly clad or naked men would then run through the town carrying the skins of newly sacrificed goats dipped in blood. The women of the town would present themselves to be gently slapped by the strips and marked by the blood to improve their chances of conceiving in the coming year.

Later, when Christianity dominated Europe, pagan holidays such as Lupercalia were renamed after early Christian Martyrs. In 496, February 14 was officially declared to be feast day of two Roman martyrs, both called Saint Valentine, by Pope Gelsius. Surprisingly, neither Saint Valentine had any connection to courtship or lovers.