St. Valentine's Day, the Traditions and History
Valentine's Day Traditions
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The History of Valentine's Day
There are several of theories about the beginnings of St. Valentine's Day. Some believe that Valentine's Day was celebrated to commemorate the death and burial of Valentine, a priest or bishop living in the third century after Christ. Valentine had an affinity for young people and during a time when Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage due to the Roman Empires need for soldiers, the priest married young lovers in secret. He was arrested and executed on February 14. When he was buried, a pink almond tree near his grave blossomed as a symbol of his lasting love. Another belief is that while Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the jailer's blind daughter. On the morning of his beheading, he sent his love a farewell letter signed "From your Valentine". Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

Some historians believe Valentine's Day stems from an ancient pagan festival known as Lupercalia. To begin this festival, at the official beginning of Spring--February 15--a group of Roman priests known as the Luperci gathered at the cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were said to have been raised by a she-wolf, lupa. The priest sacrificed a dog for purification and then a goat for fertility. Houses in the village were  cleansed by sweeping followed by sprinkling salt and wheat throughout each home as an act of purification. The boys in the village would take slices of the sacrificed goat hide dipped in the goats blood through the village gently slapping the women of the village and the field of crops. This was welcomed as an act of encouraging fertility. The names of all single women were put into a large urn and the bachelors of the village would choose a name from the urn. They couples would be paired for the year, hopefully resulting in marriage later. Some believe that this festival was later "christianized" and the Roman system for romantic pairing off was un-Christian and outlawed. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. 

In the Middle ages, the beginning of Spring when birds and animals began to mate, enhanced the idea that February and Valentine's Day should be a day for romance and lovers.

The oldest known valentine still in existence today is in the British Library in London, England. It is a poem written in 1415, by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt.