While historians have long debated the holiday's origin story, evidence shows it predates the existence of commercial greeting cards by centuries.

AI Image of The Roman Festival of Lupercalia Long before Valentine's Day was recognized as a holiday, the Romans held an annual festival called Lupercalia. Celebrated between February 13 and 15 ...

Father Michael said Saint Valentine was one, very real person– or at least the man that the church honored with a feast was no legend. He said he did not know of the secret marriage ceremonies, but ...

Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 as St. Valentine’s Day in 496 AD. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. Valentine’s Day became associated with ...

In fact, romance had very little to do with the holiday. Dating back to ancient Rome, the holiday originated with the feast of Lupercalia, celebrated from February 13 to 15. According to NPR ...

Here are a few: For years, the consensus among historians was that the holiday had something to do with an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia that fell in mid-February. Noel Lenski ...

A prisoner named "Valentine" was said in one tale to have written a note signed "from your Valentine" to his jailer's daughter, according to the Feb. 13, 2024, article.

One theory about the origins of Valentine’s Day is that it is timed to coincide with the ancient Roman festival Lupercalia, which was celebrated from February 13-15. The festival was held in ...

Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14th and is thought to be connected to the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. The holiday's modern traditions are largely attributed to Geoffrey ...

For years, the consensus among historians was that the holiday had something to do with an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia that fell in mid-February. Noel Lenski, a Yale University ...

Pope Gelasius I is said to have replaced the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia with St. Valentine's Day in the fifth century. The first mass-produced valentines were sold in the 1840s.