With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought I would give us all a little history lesson as to how this holiday came about.

February 14 was the day Rome honored Juno, the goddess of women and marriage. It was also the night before their spring festival called Feast of Lupercalia. On the eve of the festival, girls’ names were put into a jar and boys reached in and chose a partner for the festival. These often lead to marriage.

When Claudius II was emperor, he ordered all the Roman military not to marry, fearing it would deter them from being committed to battle. But, Christian priest Valentine decided to secretly marry those couples in love and looking to make it legal before the soldier had to leave. Valentine was arrested and put to death on February 14. He was canonized as a saint creating the holiday which became Saint Valentine’s Day in honor of priest.

Now we know a little history regarding Valentine’s Day.