Valentine's Day more than Hallmark moment

Every February card companies, flower shops, chocolatiers, jewelers and countless other business owners make a profit in the name of St. Valentine.

Is there any substance to Valentine's Day or is the romantic holiday just another ploy to sell cards and roses to the masses?

The history of Valentine's Day and its patron saint hail from ancient Christian and Roman traditions, according to numerous sources found on the Internet.

On www.americancatholic.org a St. Valentine quiz lists three possibilities to explain the origins of the holiday. St. Valentine might have been a priest in the Roman Empire who came to the aid of persecuted Christians during the reign of Claudius II and was eventually beheaded on Feb. 14. Or, Valentine's Day might be named after the Catholic bishop of Terni, who was also beheaded during the same period. Another person who made his mark in the annals of St. Valentine's Day history is a man who performed secret marriages for couples who were forbidden to marry. He, too, was probably beheaded, according to the website.

The quiz notes that all, some or none of the figures could have inspired our modern notion of Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day may have roots in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated on Feb. 15 for 800 years, according to the Catholic website.

"On Lupercalia, a young man would draw the name of a young woman in a lottery and would then keep the woman as a sexual companion for the year," it said on the site.

Pope Gelasius I changed the lottery to exclude sex in exchange for a favored saint to emulate for the year. The patron of the feast changed from Lupercus to Valentine. Roman men, however, didn't want to give up love, so the custom eventually included writing messages of love and admiration to women. The notes included the name of St. Valentine.

During the Middle Ages in Europe, people believed birds chose their life partners in the middle of February.

The Catholic website cites the legend of Charles, duke of Orleans, as the person who sent the first Valentine card to his wife in 1415 while he was imprisoned

in the Tower of London.

Luckily, the duke was

eventually freed and

lived to celebrate

Valentine's Day with

his wife for many de

cades.

The secret marriage story is often

cited as the cred

ible start of

Valentine's Day.

Legend has it that

Valentine was a

third-century priest

in Rome who defied Emperor Claudius II's decision to outlaw marriage for young men. Claudius believed single men were better soldiers. Valentine believed the decree to be unjust and married couples in secret ceremonies. When the practice was discovered, Valentine was put to death.

Another legend contends that Valentine actually sent the first valentine greeting himself from prison. Valentine was said to have fallen in love with a young girl, perhaps his jailer's daughter, when she visited him during his captivity. It is alleged that before Valentine was executed, he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," the expression commonly used in Valentine cards today. The website credits American Greetings for that legend.

What was once a Christian holiday has become a mainstream occasion marked by sentimental cards, gifts and other displays of love and affection. St. Valentine may be the patron saint of lovers, but i t was Esther Howland, a native of Massachusetts, who is credited with sending the first Valentine cards in the 1840s.

According to the Hallmark organization, 188 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually. The occasion marks the second most popular occasion for sending a greeting card, following Christmas.