Who is St. Valentine and how did the burden of Valentines Day come about?
Valentinus, or commonly known as St. Valentine, is a man that is associated with love, romance, and
courtship. He was a Roman priest who lived from 226 AD to 269 AD. He was known for attending to
persecuted Christians who were thrown to lions in the colosseum as a form of gruesome
entertainment (Sommerlad, 2024). At a certain point in his life, as the former Bishop of Terni, he was
on house arrest with Judge Asterius. Valentinus was a Christian himself and during a discussion with
the judge, he conveyed the validity of Jesus. The judge aught it a good idea to put him and his faith
to the test by presenting him with him blind daughter. He vowed to do anything for Valentine but
only if he can restore her sight. Valentinus put his hand over the girl’s eyes and said (Bitel, 2018):
” Lord Jesus Christ, en-lighten your handmaid, because you are God, the True Light.”
He did just that and the judge was in his debt. The judge then hold himself to his word and did
everything that Valentine asked of him. Valentine was known for converting people to Christianity,
marrying Christian couples in secret, and aiding to those who were persecuted by Claudius. During
his endeavours he was arrested once again, but this time it was under the emperor Claudius
Gothicus ( Claudius II) (Online, 2021). In Roman times, these acts were considered to be serious
crimes. During his imprisonment, the emperor and saint developed a relationship until Valentine
took it too far by trying to convince the emperor of Christianity. Claudius became enraged and
commanded Valentine to renounce his faith or be beaten with clubs and beheaded. Refusing to
renounce his faith, Valentine was executed on the 14th of February, 269 outside the Flaminian Gate.
On the day of the judge’s blind daughter, he left her a note signed, “Your Valentine”.
1.1. How did Valentines Day originate?
According to articles (Seipel, 2022), the origin of valentine’s day is none other but a dark and
gruesome fest. The Romans celebrated a fest called “Lupercalia” from Feb 13th to 15th. During these
days the romans would sacrifice a dog or a goat and them whip young women with the hides of
these animals. Noel Lenski, a religious studies professor at Yale, said that they “were drunk and
naked”. Romans believed by hitting the woman it would make them fertile. It did not stop there.
During this ceremony the men would draw a woman’s name from and continue to, um, couple up for
the night. Over time the celebration evolved into more of a “drunken revel” where love and fertility
were still celebrated, according to Lenski.
“Galatin’s Day”, still known to this day, was also celebrated by the Normans around the same time. It
means “lover of woman” but today it is celebrated among all the single girls out there commonly
known as “Galentines Day”.
The celebration of Valentine’s Day was established in 496 AD by Pope Gelasius in honor of
Valentine's martyrdom on the 14th of February and is known to this day as the day of love. Relics of
St. Valentine can be found all over the world. His body is buried just north of Rome. His skull resides
in the tiny basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin Roma (Knapp, 2023)
References
Bitel, L. 2018 . The "real" St. Valentine was no patron of love. The Conversation [Electronic].
Available: https://www.theconversation.com/the-real-st-valentine-was-no-patron-of-love-90518
[2018 , February 13].
Knapp, F. 2023 . You can blow a kiss to the Real St. Valentine. Messy Nessy [Electronic]. Available:
https://www.messynessychic.com/2018/02/14/you-can-blow-a-kiss-to-the-real-st-valentine/ [2023,
March 20].
Online, C. 2021 . St. Valentine. [Electronic]. Available: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint [2021,
March 12].
Seipel, A. 2022 . The dark origins of Valentine's day. npr [Electronic]. Available: https://www.npr.org
[2022 , February 14].
Sommerlad, J. 2024 . Who was St. Valentine and why is he associated with love. Independent
[Electronic]. Available: https://www.independent.co.uk [2024, February 14].