February 14 marks the popular holiday of Valentine's Day, a day to show your love to someone special in your life.
The reason it is called Valentine's Day is because the Church used to celebrate the life of St. Valentine on this date.
Who was St. Valentine?
February 14 honors the memory of St. Valentine of Rome, a priest who was martyred on this day in the year 270.
A brief biography of St. Valentine is featured in Butler's Lives of the Saints.
Generally speaking, this is most of what we know about the real St. Valentine with any certainty. After his death many legends were composed about him. One of the earliest legends about his life is featured in the Golden Legend.
It wasn't until much later that St. Valentine was associated with lovers, and the invention of the modern-day celebration of Valentine's Day. Even the story of St. Valentine performing marriages comes at a later date.
Regardless of these later additions to this story, the early Christians venerated St. Valentine of Rome as a holy martyr, who stayed faithful to Christ despite persecution.
