St Valentine's Day 14th February Every Year.

Every year on the 14th February millions of people give their loved ones with flowers, chocolates and  gifts and it is estimated that over a billion Valentine’s Day cards are given each year but why?

Well the history of Valentine's Day and its patron saint Saint Valentine is still the subject of much debate but In ancient Rome, 13th, 14th and 15th February were celebrated as Lupercalia a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus, a pagan fertility festival. This seems to be the basis for a celebration of love on this date.

But who was St Valentine?

Well, the Catholic Church recognizes at three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred but the Bishop of Interamna is now widely accepted as the saint. He was an early Christian martyr who lived in northern Italy in the third century and was put to death on 14 February around 270AD on the orders of emperor Claudius 11. Claudius 11 had prohibited marriage for young men, believing that bachelors made better soldiers. Valentine continued to secretly perform marriage ceremonies but was eventually apprehended by the Romans and put to death. According to legend, Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" while in prison as it is believed that he fell in love with a young girl  who visited him during his prison confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today.

 

The tiny island above in the Adriatic is shaped like a heart. In the UK, St Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century while the first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland.

It is estimated that 85% of valentines cards are purchased by women, 3% of pet owners will give a Valentine's Day gifts to their pets, Approximately 110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period. (73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are men, while only 27 percent are women).