The patron Saint of romance was St Valentine. The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February 14th has long been celebrated as the day of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?A wonderful legend was a priest who served during third century Rome. During that time, there was an Emperor who ruled Rome named Claudius II. Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those that were married and outlawed marriage for all young men serving in his army. Supposedly, Valentine, decided this decree just wasn’t fair and chose to marry young couples secretly. When Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine’s actions he had him impisoned, and later put to death. Some stories say that the young couples, who Valentine had married, gave flowers and letters to Valentine when they visited him in the prison.
In a slightly different version of the legend, Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor’s daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first ‘valentine’ to his love when he wrote her a letter and signed it ‘Your Valentine’. These words are still used on cards today.
Perhaps we’ll never know the true identity and story behind the man named St. Valentine, but this much is for sure…February has been the month to celebrate love for a long time, dating way back to the Middle Ages. In fact, Valentine’s Day ranks second only to Christmas in number of greeting cards sent.
Another famous person from Valentine’s Day that you may be wondering about is Cupid (Latin cupido, “desire”). In Roman mythology Cupid is the son of Venus, goddess of love. His counterpart in Greek mythology is Eros, god of love. Cupid is often said to be a mischievous boy who goes around wounding both gods and humans with his arrows, causing them to fall in love.
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