Alabama Here’s How Valentine’s Day Originated

Why is Valentine's Day technically a holiday? Where did it originate from? Sometimes I feel it’s just a holiday so that certain corporations can make money.

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Yet the origins of Valentine's Day date back to the 3rd century. That’s a very long time ago.  Saint Valentine was a Catholic priest who lived in Rome.

At that time in Rome many people were converting to Christianity.  Emperor Claudius II was the ruler of Rome and a pagan. He felt that the soldiers of Rome should devote their lives to Rome and only Rome. He made it a law that the soldiers were not allowed to marry.  This is where Saint Valentine stepped in and was performing secret Christian wedding ceremonies for the soldiers.

He was caught and placed in jail for his crimes against the Emperor.  This is not the end of his story. While in jail he cared for his fellow prisoners and also took care of the blind child of what we now call the warden.  He was executed on February 14th in the year 270. Before his execution, the stories state that he cured the girl's blindness. In a handwritten note to the girl, he signed it  “from your Valentine”.

Now 200 years later, as the Catholic Church was trying to abolish paganism, the church proclaimed February 14th as Saint Valentine's Day. Which also happens to fall on the same day as the pagan fertility ritual.  Now the poet we all know and love, Chaucer, was the first to link Saint Valentine's Day in a romantic fashion.

That has now grown into chocolates, cards, and flowers.