Celebrated annually on February 14, Valentine’s Day is a day of expressing love to your partner, spending quality time, and exchanging thoughtful gifts. Derived from the name of a saint, many cultures trace the day back to a Roman festival known as Lupercalia. 

While a few cultures believe that the day marks the death anniversary of Saint Valentine, others perceive it as a celebration of the Church ‘christianising’ the Lupercalia holiday. 

In the Roman culture, the day is celebrated by offering prayers to Faunus, the god of agriculture, and Roman founders Remus and Romulus. Towards the end of the fifth century, Pope Gelasius chose Lupercalia as the day to honour Saint Valentine, who died on February 14 in 270 AD. The day then began to be associated with love and romance. Various events were conducted, including a game where men would pick names of women from a box, with the activity often leading to marriage. 

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Saint Valentine was declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Many historians believe that the saint was a priest who would officiate secret weddings, resulting in him being martyred by Emperor Claudius II. The ruler forbid men from marrying because according to him, unmarried men were more dedicated to serving in the troops. 

Some experts also believe that the saint was the Bishop of Terni, killed by Claudius II on the outskirts of Rome. One of the most popular theories suggests that the two were the same person. 

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Another compelling theory believes that St. Valentine is a fictional character in Canterbury Tales, a book by Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer would often mix reality with fiction, leaving many people questioning the veracity of his records. There seems to be no mention of St. Valentine prior to a poem by Chaucer in which he mentions him. 

While the mystery remains unsolved, Valentine’s Day continues to be a romantic holiday that couples from around the world look forward to.