There are various explanations for the origin of Valentine’s Day. Some historians believe it started with an ancient Rome festival called Lupercalia, which celebrated the coming of spring and honored Juno, the goddess of marriage. In Rome mythology, Juno was the wife of Jupiter, the god of thunder. Jupiter was the Roman version of Zeus, the chief deity in Greek mythology.

The earliest records of Valentine’s Day in England revealed the birds were thought to choose their mates on February 14. Chaucer, an English poet of the 1300’s wrote about this and Shakespeare also mentioned it in his play, “A Midsummer Night’s dream.”

An old English Valentine’s Day custom was to have young women in a village write their names on slips of paper and place them in a Jar. The young men then met in a group, and each man drew out a slip and pinned it to his sleeve. The girls of the village then went about, checking to see from whom she would receive a gift and that young man’s attention, the shyest girls being the last to know. As time went on, many young men who were less than pleased to be paired with someone they really didn’t care for, dispensed with this lottery system and started giving gifts to the girls they actually liked on Valentine’s Day. This brought an end to the random drawings and gave Valentine’s Day a much more serious meaning.

In more recent years, the most common way to express one’s affection has been the Valentine’s card. The first ones were handmade with cupids, arrows, hearts and paper flowers, trimmed in satin, ribbons, and lace. Stores even sold booklets containing sample verses to copy. Manufactured cards appeared near the end of the 18th century and Valentine’s Day cards are still very popular but recent developments in computer technology have produced animated e-mail cards with graphics in color. They even play romantic music and are gradually replacing those that are sent through the mail.

Almost every man would agree, however, that they could never replace a card that has been carefully chosen and signed by his best girl, especially if it bears her lip print and the fragrance of her favorite perfume. That would most certainly be a keeper.

Scholars have had great difficulty in locating historical facts surrounding the origin of the observance of Valentine’s Day because records no longer exists. However, a priest named Valentinus, who was put to death because of his beliefs in Rome about 269 AD was declared a saint in later years and has had a basilica built in his honor, therefore, it is known that he was a real person. According to the legend he began with the early Christians, Valentinus lived in the third-century and disobeyed Emperor Claudius II by performing marriage ceremonies for the soldiers. Claudius had handed down a decree ordering them to remain bachelors because he believed they would be better able to concentrate on fighting if they didn’t have a wife waiting at home.

Valentinus was thrown in jail and condemned to death for defying the Emperor’s order. While there, he befriended the jailer and his blind daughter. The jailer’s daughter, who liked to call him “Valentine” brought him food and encouraged messages from outside the prison walls.