Valentine's Day Began in Ancient Rome

Rome and Dublin hold St. Valetine's relics.

Among those chronicling the history of the holiday we celebrate today, Dr. Elinor Garley wrote "How It All Began: The Origin of St. Valentine's Day," It started in old Rome in the time of Emperor Claudius, not in romantic Venice or Paris, or even to the Poconos known for their honeymoon hotels with heart-shaped beds and bathtubs.

Dr. Garley wrote that February 14 was originally a holiday honoring Juno, queen in pantheon of the Roman Gods and Goddesses, and also the goddess of women and marriage. She wrote, "Emperor Claudius II (268 – 270), also known as Claudius the Cruel, was fond of starting bloody and unpopular wars for which he needed lots of men. His recruitment attempts were unsuccessful war, for the men wanted to stay with their families and loved ones. To get them to 'man up' he cancelled all engagements and marriages." An emperor fond of starting bloody wars? How familiar in modern times.

In any event, she credits Valentine, a Roman priest (this was, after all, early in the Christian era) for marrying couples secretly, regardless of the Emperor's decree. This, to put it crudely, pissed off the emporor who had Valentine imprisoned and sentenced to death. The method of execution was to be clubbed to death and then beheaded, a martyrdom that was his eventual path to sainthood. How familiar in modern times when stonings and beheadings still make headlines.

The punishment was to be meted out on February 14. Dr. Garley continued, "During his incarceration, St. Valentine tried to stay cheerful and the young people he had married came to visit him in jail, showering him with flowers and notes. One of his visitors was the daughter of the prison guard who was allowed to visit Valentine in his cell. Sitting and talking for hours, this young woman encouraged St. Valentine to continue to perform marriages in secret. On the day he was scheduled to be beheaded, he left his friend a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty, and it was signed, 'Love from your Valentine.' The date was February 14, 269 AD. Now every year on this day, people remember and exchange love messages on Valentine’s Day; Emperor Claudius is remembered as having tried to stand in the way of love."

Another essay put additional spin on the story: "At that time it was the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honour of a heathen god. On these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed.
The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavoured to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feast. So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way."

Since this is a travel blog, I feel obligated add a link to places where visitors can pay homage to the original Valentine. You can see an image of the relic of St. Valentine, a grisly flower-bedecked skull in a glass reliquary, in the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome -- or you can visit the church. The Shrine of St Valentine in Dublin's Whitefriar Street Church is the site where the remainder of St. Valentine's remains, so to speak, are now interred. In addition to these ancient holy bones, a prettier object of veneration is St. Valentine's statue, carved by one Irene Broe, that depicts the saint in the red vestments of a martyr and holding a crocus in his hands.