Valentines Day

I co-lead a men's bible study group that meets every friday morning at 6:00 a.m. Tomorrow is my morning to lead on a topic of my choice and I thought that I would share this study with everyone about the history of Valentines day with some follow up questions:

Saint Valentine is probably not just one man, but rather any of a number of martyred saints named Valentine or Valentinus, derived from the Latin word for valor. According to Christian tradition, all of these Saint Valentines are believed to have been martyred on February 14.

The first Valentinus, Valentine of Rome, was a priest and doctor, who treated even those patients who could not afford to pay him. The second Saint Valentine was beheaded for protecting Christians from the Romans. And the third is Valentine of Terni, a bishop believed killed during the persecution of Emperor Aurelian.

While these saints likely bestowed upon Valentines Day its name, they still do not explain the holiday’s love connection. To understand that, one has to go back even further in history-to the Romans.

Historians believe that the holiday of love derives it origins from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalla. On February 15, the Romans celebrated the Feast of Lupercus, to honor and thank the wolf god who watched over the Roman shepherds and their flocks.

While Lupercus doesn’t seem to have much to do with romance, there was a number of fertility customs associated with this feast. In one of the rituals, women would put their names on slips of paper in a box to be drawn by men. The two would then be coupled up for the duration of the festival-or the rest of the year in some cases. This fertility-friendly feast gives some clue as to the romantic-or at least procreative- nature of the holiday. But we don’t celebrate Saint Lupercus Day on February 14. So, how did the Valentine saints become associated with the Roman god?

Legend has it that in the 3rd century, the Roman emperor Claudious II banned marriages to prevent draft dodgers. Only single men had to go into the army- and too many young men were getting married.

A Christian priest named Valentinus of Rome ignored the ban, continuing to officiate marriages in secret. Valentinus was caught and sentenced to death- an order carried out on February 14. Valentinus fell for his jailer’s daughter and sent her love notes signed “from your Valentine”.

In the late 5th century, Emperor Gelasius declared February 14 a holy day in honor of Valentinus, allowing Christianity to adopt some of the love day customs previously associated with paganism.

The traditions were reworked, however, to honor the Christian martyrs. For example, instead of boys pulling girls names from boxes, both boys and girls chose names of martyred saints to emulate for the year. It took nearly 9 centuries, until the advent of the renaissance, for Valentines Day to return to its earlier love-based roots.


Did you know this history of Valentines Day? Does it change your opinion of Valentines Day?



Do you have any special plans or traditions that you use to celebrate Valentines Day?


How do you think God views this holiday?


At one time, this holiday was to celebrate Christian Martyrs, how much are you willing to sacrifice for your faith? Would you be willing to die for your faith and what are you willing to die for?


(John 13:38, 18:15-17, 18:25-27) How do you think you would have reacted if you had been Peter?