It is easy enough to tell you about the saint, but what he had to do with the popular observances of the day dedicated to him is a matter for conjecture.
Saint Valentine, they say, was a grave and earnest bishop, who was put to death in Rome on the fourteenth day of February, about the year 270 A.D., for his too zealous efforts in converting the heathen. When he was canonized, the day of the month on which he died was dedicated to him.
The customs of Saint Valentine’s Day are, no doubt, derived from those practised at some of the Pagan festivals, for they are of very ancient origin. In olden times, in England, it was kept as a great gala day, and all the houses were decked with evergreen in honor of it. Ben Jonson says:
“Get some fresh hay, then, to lay under foot,
Some holly and ivy to make fine the posts;
Is’t not Saint Valentine’s Day?”
The principal feature of the ceremonies was always the choice of a valentine for the ensuing year. The cavalier was expected to wait upon his lady, execute all of her commands, and act as her escort at all social gatherings.
The choice of a valentine was generally left to chance, one of the methods being that the first unmarried member of the opposite sex a person saw on Saint Valentine’s morning should be his or her valentine.
Of course you have all had some experience in sending and receiving valentines, and perhaps consider that the only way of celebrating the day; but don’t you think it would be a good idea to invite some friends to your house and have a