The True (Gory) History Of St. Valentine's Day

Real History Of St. Valentines Day & Why We Give Gifts & Cards

As early as the fourth century B.C., the Romans engaged in an annual young man’s rite to passage to the God Lupercus. The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of the year, after which another lottery was staged. After eight hundred years of this cruel practice, the early church fathers sought to end this practice… They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred some two hundred years earlier.

Ancient Rome is riddled with strange ceremonies and traditions, especially toward the end of its reign as a mighty empire. In fact, the way young men and women learned love was from a lottery. Once a year, in a ceremony, a teenage boy picked a girl’s name out of a box (all the teenage girls in the village names were in the box). She was his for a year. She was at his command. And sometimes it was not a pretty thing to witness. It would be another 800 years before the church put an end to this practice.

The event turned out to be a celebration of a good man, a priest and bishop named Valentine who lived near Rome in the mid to late second century. During this time Emporer Claudius 11 had outlawed marriage as he felt it made his soldiers weak, and he needed the strongest men available. After all, Rome was crumbling.

After witnessing the horrors of young lovers being torn apart for wanting to be married, Valentine held secret ceremonies and married them anyway. He was soon caught by Claudius’ army. Claudius tried to convert him to the Roman way of thinking but Valentine held firm to his Christian beliefs and was executed.

Valentine’s execution date was February 24th, 270.

During Valentine’s prison sentence, he came in contact with his jailer, Asterius who had a blind daughter. Asterius requested him to heal his daughter. Through his faith he miraculously restored the sight of Asterius’ daughter. Just before his execution, he asked for a pen and paper from his jailer, and signed a farewell message to her “From Your Valentine,” a phrase that has endured eternity.

Valentine was later named a Patron Saint, and spiritual overseer of an annual festival. The festival involved young Romans offering women they admired, and wished to court, handwritten greetings of affection on February 14. The greeting cards acquired St. Valentine’s namesake and still has it.

Valentine’s day grew in popularity along with Christianity, and is now celebrated all over the world, celebrated by almost all faiths. One of the earliest Valentine’s cards was sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. It is now showcased at the British Museum.

I only found out the origins of Valentine’s Day today, and found it quite interesting. So what I decided to do was add a “Sex, Love, & Relationship” section to my main gift shop, and mark everything down up to 80% just through Valentine’s day, just to make the Patron Saint proud. It can include a gift card and the customer does not have to sign it “From Your Valentine” but can if he/she wishes.

By the way, we are offering up to 80% off all gifts and collectibles in our "Sex, Love, And Relationships" section at www.ricklondoncollection.com . It is well worth the visit. From pillows to keepsake boxes to day planners to tshirts. They are all a lot of fun and make for the greatest gift, laughter....the gift of healing.