There are many variations in history of just exactly how St. Valentine’s was begun.  In fact,  history reports that there are at least three Catholic saints by the name of Valentine!  

The history of Saint Valentine's Day begins in Rome.  It was the ancient Romans who first celebrated what later became what we know as Valentine’s Day. On February 14th, Romans honoured Juno, the queen of Roman gods and goddesses.  The following day began the feast of Lupercalia which honored the Roman god Luperus, god of wolves.  On the 14^th,  the evening before the beginning of the feast,  names of young Roman girls were written down and placed into container. Then each young man would draw out the name of a girl and she would become his sweetheart for that year.

During the Roman rule,  the emperor cancelled all marriages and engagements as he was finding it difficult to find soldiers that were willing to leave their wives and families.   However around the year 270 AD, one priest named Valentine continued to secretly carry out these marriages.  Valentine the priest, was finally found out and was executed on the 14^th of February which was coincidentally the eve of the feast of Lupercalia.   Valentine was proclaimed a martyr and made a saint by the church.

It was during this time that the early church wanted to do away with many of the pagan festivals and traditions.   One of these was the Feast of Lupercalia.    In order to do this,  the church began to substitute the names of Christian saints,  rather than using the names of young girls in the annual drawing of names.  The young men were then to pick the name of a saint to emulate for the year,  rather than choose a girl to be their sweetheart!   As well,   in order to replace the pagan god Lupercus,  they chose a saint to honor that day:  Saint Valentine.

Valentine's day history says that just before Valentine was executed he wrote a brief message signing it ‘from your Valentine’.   Since that time, the traditions of Valentine’s day have grown, making February 14^th the official day to express your feelings for your loved ones with cards and gifts.

The first Valentine’s Day card was supposedly sent in 1415 by Charles the Duke of Orleans.   He sent his message to his wife while imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Closer to home, a woman by the name of Miss Esther Howland is thought to have sent the very first Valentine’s Day cards in the United States.   The first commercial Valentines were introduced in the late 1800’s and today Valentine’s Day is popular with almost everyone from school children on up, exchanging valentines and gifts.