Saint Valentine
St. Valentine was an early martyr whose life is known more from legend than history, though there is good evidence he was venerated in the early Church. His feast, February 14, remains an optional memorial. The Church does not celebrate the day for romance but for his witness as a saint and martyr.
In three points
- The Roman Martyrology lists two Valentines, possibly the same man
- Legend says he married Christian couples or healed a jailer's daughter and was martyred under Claudius II
- Gelasius I established the feast, perhaps to redirect attention from Lupercalia
- Real love is sacrificial, and Valentine's Day is not pagan
Who he was
The Roman Martyrology lists two St. Valentines on February 14: a Roman priest martyred on the Flaminian Way in the late third century, and a third-century bishop of Terni, Italy, the "city of love." They may be the same person. Because the details are sketchy, St. Paul VI removed him from the universal calendar in 1969; February 14 is now principally the feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius, though St. Valentine remains an optional memorial. He is remembered as a witness to love of God and neighbor (see 1 Corinthians 12–13).
His martyrdom
He lived under Emperor Claudius II. One account says he secretly married Christian couples despite the emperor's ban on marriage for young men, who were thought to make better soldiers. Another says he restored sight to a jailer's blind daughter, her family converted, and when he refused to renounce his faith he was clubbed and beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate on February 14, 269. Legend says he left her a note signed "From your Valentine." These stories are legendary but express his courage and love.
The feast
Pope Gelasius I established the feast in 496, saying the facts of Valentine's life are "known only to God," reportedly choosing the date partly to redirect attention from the impure pagan festival of Lupercalia (February 15). The Depositio Martyrum mentions him by 354. The link with romance came from the medieval belief that birds paired on this day, immortalized by Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls. The Church does not hold the day as a celebration of romantic love.
Patron of lovers
He is patron of lovers, marriages and engaged couples, and by some traditions of beekeepers and those with epilepsy. Real love is sacrificial, inspired by Christ (see John 15:13; Ephesians 5:25). As the old marriage rite put it: "Sacrifice is usually difficult and irksome. Only love can make it easy; and perfect love can make it a joy."
The dark side
Commercial gifts can celebrate true love, but the day often celebrates lust, obscuring what love is: willing the good of another. The ancient "dark side" refers to Lupercalia. The Church has prudently sanctified or redirected pagan customs rather than impose needless burdens (see Acts 15:28), being wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). Karl Keating once pointed out to an anti-Catholic debater that his own wedding's white gown, bouquet, vows and rings all came from pre-Christian rites.
Common questions
- Is Valentine's Day pagan? No.
- Was St. Valentine gay? There is no historical basis for this claim.
- Is it a holy day of obligation? No, though Catholics may honor him by attending Mass.
True love is inseparable from faith working through love (Galatians 5:6).
Read online with linked Scripture: catholic.id/tracts/saint-valentine/