Modern Hill Woman

Be Mine

Today, Valentine’s Day is all about hearts and flowers and candy. The origin of Valentine’s Day isn’t quite so sweet.

Saint Valentine was a priest in Rome who was persecuted for his Christian beliefs. He was interrogated by Emperor Claudius ll, who tried to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to get Claudius to convert to Christianity instead. Valentine was then executed on February 14. Saint Valentine’s Day was established in 496 to honor the martyred priest. But some suggest that it was created to replace the pagan holiday Lupercalia.

According to legend, Valentine performed a miracle while incarcerated by restoring sight to the blind daughter of his jailer. Before his execution, he was said to have written a farewell letter to the girl signed “Your Valentine.”

Saint Valentine supposedly wore a purple amethyst ring, which was the customary jewelry of bishops, with an image of Cupid engraved on it. Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry recognized the ring and came to him to be wed. Amethyst has become the birthstone of February and is thought to attract love. According to legend, in order to remind these men of their vows and God’s love, Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment and given them to soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the wide use of hearts on Valentine’s Day.

The day started being celebrated as a romantic holiday in the 14th century, courtesy of the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer. “Valentine” cards, sweets and gifts of flowers gained in popularity. By the 1800s handmade paper valentines gave way to factory produced cards. Also in the 1800s, the British candy company Cadbury, started distributing heart shaped boxes of chocolates for Valentine’s Day.

In modern times it is estimated that around 190 million valentines are sent each year in the United States. Counting the boxed cards exchanged in classrooms the figure goes up to 1 billion.