Valentine’s Day – a day reserved for lovers, romance, chocolate and flowers. Yet what do we know about the beginnings of this popular day?

Saint Valentine is acknowledged as the patron saint of lovers but there is some mystery surrounding the man himself. Three different legends have been passed down through history about a man or possibly three men named Valentine.

In one legend the man Valentine is a priest who defies Emperor Claudius II and secretly marries young couples despite a decree that no young man shall be married. Valentine is discovered and put to death.

Another legend has Valentine killed while helping prisoners escape Roman prisons.

A third legend sees Valentine in prison. Here he falls in love with a young woman. Shortly before his death he writes her a love letter and signs it, “From your Valentine”, making it the first Valentine.

What ever the actual facts of his life, it is obvious that Valentine was a man of peace and love. It is no coincidence then that the Christian Church chose Valentine to represent the day dedicated to lovers. The date of February 14 was perhaps a little more calculated.

One theory is that the middle of February in or around the year 270 A.D. is the date of Valentine’s death. Another theory is the Church was trying to Christianize pagan celebrations and chose to replace the pagan Lupercalia festival – which celebrated fertility, purity and the choosing of women in a lottery, with a day celebrating Saint Valentine.

Around the year 489 A.D. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as Valentine’s Day. At the same time the pagan ritual of the woman lottery associated with the Lupercalia festival was outlawed.

In the Middle Ages it was noticed that Valentines Day was the beginning of the mating season for many birds. This observation became associated with love, romance and Valentines Day.

The romantic notion of Valentine’s Day has ballooned over the centuries. The idea of a day dedicated to love and romance has become so popular that Valentine’s Day is now the second biggest card-sending holiday of the year.