The Origin of Valentine's Day
The origin of Valentine's Day is quite difficult to establish. There are different stories that could each justify this celebration on their own.
According to ecclesiastical tradition, the Saint Valentine (there's more than one saint with this name) who gives rise to this celebration was a Roman bishop who lived in the 3rd century A.D. in the Roman Empire. At that time, Emperor Claudius II, convinced that the performance of single soldiers was superior to that of married ones, prohibited marriage for young singles. Saint Valentine ignored the prohibition and continued secretly marrying young men. Saint Valentine was discovered and judged. He was offered pardon in exchange for renouncing his Christian faith (remember that Christianity was still a forbidden religion), but Saint Valentine refused and was therefore sentenced to death. This tradition tells that during his time in jail, his jailer introduced him to his daughter, Julia, who was blind from birth, so he could instruct her, taking advantage of his education as a man of letters. During this imprisonment, the girl miraculously regained her sight through the saint's work. On the day of his execution, February 14, 270 A.D., before being executed, Saint Valentine wrote a letter to the girl so she would always stay close to God, signing it "from your Valentine," a letter that would be the distant origin of Valentine's Day cards.
An alternative version suggests that Saint Valentine had many friendships with children. When the Romans captured him, they continued communicating with him through notes thrown into his cell through the bars of the window. These notes would be the origin of Valentine's Day cards.
Another tradition places the origin of this celebration in a Roman festival held on February 15 known as Lupercalia. This festival was held in honor of the Roman god of fertility, Lupercus. During it, young men would whip women with lashes to grant them fertility. This festival was banned and replaced by one in the name of Saint Valentine in 496 by Pope Gelasius.
In England, we find another possible origin, specifically in an old popular belief that birds chose their partners on February 14. This is how the day in honor of Saint Valentine would have been associated with falling in love.
Despite the historical confusion in establishing the true origin among so many options, doesn't it seem that Valentine's Day was destined to occur on this date?