By Luke Butner

Every February 14, stores are filled with heart-shaped candy boxes, people embrace their special somebodies and they exchange thoughtful gifts. But have you ever considered why we celebrate Valentine’s Day in America and where the holiday originates?

The story of Valentine’s Day begins long before greeting cards and candy hearts. Many historians trace its origins back to an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia. Celebrated in mid-February, Lupercalia was a fertility festival intended to welcome spring. The holiday included rituals and celebrations that were distinctly different from contemporary traditions.

As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, church leaders often adapted or replaced pagan festivals with Christian observances. Over time, February 14 became associated with a Christian martyr known as Saint Valentine.

There are several legends about Saint Valentine. The most popular story takes place during the reign of Claudius II in 268 AD, where he believed single men made better soldiers than married men. In an effort to boost his military, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, a priest, secretly performed marriages against Claudius’s orders. When his actions were discovered, he was imprisoned and later executed on February 14.

Though historians debate the validity of this story, Valentine became remembered as a symbol of love and devotion.

Valentine’s Day did not immediately become associated with romance. That shift began in the Middle Ages, especially in Western Europe. The famous English poet Geoffrey Chaucer helped popularize the romantic connection associated with Valentine’s Day in his poem “Parliament of Fowls,” written in the 1300s. In it, Chaucer linked Saint Valentine’s Day with birds selecting their mates in mid-February.

By the 1400s and 1500s, people in Europe were exchanging handwritten love notes. These early “valentines” were often poems or short messages expressing affection. As Europeans immigrated to America, they brought their Valentine’s Day traditions with them. By the 1700s and early 1800s, it was common for friends and sweethearts to exchange handwritten notes of affection.

The holiday gained popularity in the 1800s when mass-produced Valentine’s Day cards became available. One important figure was Esther Howland, sometimes referred to as the “Mother of the American Valentine.” In the 1840s, she began selling decorative Valentine’s cards with lace, ribbons and other colorful designs. Her business revolutionized Valentine’s Day into a major commercial holiday in the United States.

Even though Valentine’s Day has changed a lot over the centuries – from a Roman festival to a Christian feast day to a commercial holiday – it still centers around one idea: showing care and appreciation for others.