of one person for another in a romantic way, but elsewhere Valentine’s Day is seen more as an opportunity to make small gestures towards friends.
February 14th used to be a Roman custom, very much within the pagan tradition. It was the Eve of Lupercalia, and was primarily a festival of fertility. The tradition in Rome was to hold what was effectively a lottery, where boys and girls were paired off with each other at random. Many of these pairings evolved into firm friendships and even marriages. Throughout the following days of the feast other pagan traditions of a less romantic bent would be carried out, including ritual sacrifices, bathing in blood, and whipping in the streets.
Needless to say, when the Catholic Church stepped in, many of these traditions were stopped, and although the love lottery survived, boys were paired with saints rather than girls, and this is when Saint Valentine became synonymous with the date.
It isn’t easy to be clear who exactly Valentine was, since there are eleven different Saint Valentines recorded by the Catholic Church. However, three in particular stand out, two of which are thought to be the most likely contenders. The first of these St Valentines was a Christian Priest who was executed on February 14th in 269 AD. The emperor of Rome at the time, Claudius II had passed a law banning marriage, because a significant number of men were getting married as a way to avoid the obligation which they would otherwise face of joining the army. St Valentine carried out many secret marriages however, and during the time when he was waiting to be executed, many romantic couples sent him letters in support of love over war. It was in 496 AD that Pope Gelasius decreed that February 14th