What is the story behind valentines day?

Answer 1

Sean C and Carol said it best! All I can really add to it is the observation that the day is ment to be fun. I share the fun by buying sweets and a card for two elderly women. They love it, and I get a bit of extra happiness myself.
--that Cheeky Lad

Answer 2

The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Answer 3

Saint Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day falls on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine's cards and candy, often anonymously. The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Answer 4

The holiday of Valentine's Day probably derives its origins from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia. In the early days of Rome, fierce wolves roamed the woods nearby. The Romans called upon one of their gods, Lupercus, to keep the wolves away. A festival held in honor of Lupercus was celebrated February 15th. The festival was celebrated as a spring festival. Their calendar was different at that time, with February falling in early springtime.
One of the customs of the young people was name-drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man drew a slip. The girl whose name was chosen was to be his sweetheart for the year
Legend has it that the holiday became Valentine's Day after a priest named Valentine. Valentine was a priest in Rome at the time Christianity was a new religion. The Emperor at that time, Claudius II, ordered the Roman soldiers NOT to marry or become engaged. Claudius believed that as married men, his soldiers would want to stay home with their families rather than fight his wars. Valentine defied the Emperor's decree and secretly married the young couples. He was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and put to death

Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve of the Roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death, Valentine was named a saint. As Rome became more Christian, the priests moved the spring holiday from the 15th of February to the 14th - Valentine's Day. Now the holiday honored Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus

Answer 5

Valentines Day got canceled in 1969, nearly 30 yrs ago, by the RCC which started it; Yet six nations still actively celebrate it. For "origin of Valentines Day" and "truth about Valentines Day" see the link below, which also has other Valentines Day links, and links concerning Christmas Lies and Easter Lies.

At least Saint Valentines Day got canceled.

Let us also real-ize "Easter" is the "one day [is] as a thousand years"(2Pet 3:8-Rev 20) which "Peter"(only man called "Satan" in Bible) spent chained in jail (Mt 4:10; Mt 16:23; Acts 12:2-4; 2Pet 3:8; Rev 20:2-7)... in which things are an "allegory": Galatians 4.

I perceive this Easter 2007 will be the Easter of all Easters for ppl see-king on the internet; Which is now ww (global) so "also that" gospel can go global (obviously for comparison of lie vs truth, law vs grace) as "this gospel" went global first.

The law (and lie) was given by Moses,
But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (Jn 1:17)

He taketh away the first(law: lie),
that he may establish the second(grace: truth): Heb 10:9.

For know-ing the truth makes you free of believe-ing the lies

And the only thing established by both is an oxyMORON such as "One Proselyte: Twofold: More the CHILD of Hell(Law)": Mt 23, which also notes fools sat in Moses' Seat: Law.

The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.

Answer 6

Valentine's Day was started by a Christian priest named Saint Valentine, who got in trouble with the Emperor Maximian for advocating the replacement of the Lupercalia, a popular Pagan holiday celebrating sex with Valentine's Day, a Christian holiday where the Man grovels to the Woman and tries to bribe her for sex between Church services, made more difficult for the ritual by sermons against sex in any form. This idea pissed off the Emperor and his womanizing son Maxentius, leading to the only persecution of a Christian in the West during Maximian's reign.

:) enjoy

Answer 7

From what I remember in school (going back a bit now). It has somethign to do with St Valentine writing an anonomous love letter to someone before he died or was executed.

However, it was found out who it was from hence why the day is called St Valentines.

Now that could be totally wrong but it's what I remember.

Answer 8

It used to be the pagan feast of Lupercalia, which was another name for the hedonistic god Pan. It celebrated lust, which reflected the life beginning to stir at the end of winter.

Later the sexual activities were tamed by the Church into mere romantic interests, and the day called after the saint whose day it is (I think nearly every day has a saint). It's taken a lot of finagaling for the church to explain the connection.

Answer 9

Invented by Clinton Cards as another day to sell their overpriced tat