There are different theories about the origins of Valentine’s Day, with some placing the origin with the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia that occurred February 13th to the 15th.  The festival included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be coupled up for the duration of the festival and maybe even longer, if the match was right.

In the 3rd century, the Roman Emperor Claudius II thought marriage was not good for war since men wanted to stay home with their wives, so he outlawed marriage. At the time there was a Christian priest named Valentine who felt sorry for the couples and married people in secret. When Claudius found out, he threw Valentine in jail and executed him on February 14. Before his death however, Valentine wrote a letter to the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend and signed it from your Valentine.

St. Valentine’s Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife.

Whatever the origin, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year.

Happy Valentine’s Day