The Saint of Love

I have often wondered how we have come from the feast day of a celebrated martyr to a day of decorated hearts and boxes of chocolates.  Unfortunately, the historical recollections of some of the earliest saints and martyrs are lacking, garbled, and unclear.  How is it then that this martyr's feast day came to be popularly associated with love?

There are at least three martyrs linked to the date of February 14, and known as St. Valentine.  The Acts of the Martyrs has record of a priest in Rome and a bishop in Central Italy in the third century.  The third St. Valentine traveled to Africa with his companions to preach the Gospel and was martyred there.  

The information that is known of Valentine seems to place him as the priest in Rome who was martyred in 269 AD under Emperor Claudius II (268-270.)  Valentine aided Christians and performed Christian marriage rites until his imprisonment.  Valentine refused to reject Christ and is believed to have attempted to convert the Emperor.  He was beaten, stoned, and eventually beheaded outside Porta del Popolo (Flaminian Gate of Rome.)  In 496 AD Pope Gelasius declared February 14 to be the date of honorary celebration of the martyr Valentinus.     

Thus, St. Valentine came to be associated with love due to his marrying of Christian couples.  During the Middle Ages it became a popular belief that the "birds began to pair" halfway through February.  Poets such as Chaucer  and John Gower refer to St. Valentine's Day and the pairing of the birds as an indication of love being in the air.  St. Valentine is also represented in the Nuremberg Chronicles; an illustrated biblical paraphrase published in 1493. 

So, Christian couples have particular reason to celebrate this feast day of love and the martyr who gave his life for Christ in celebrating Christian marriages.  If love is in the air in February then the remembrance of St. Valentine gives lovers the courage and reason to make their love known!