Valentine’s Day isn’t just invented by florists to increase sales, as my nineteen-year-old son suggested. While it is true that flowers, chocolates and gifts are exchanged throughout the world on this romantic day, the truth is that everything is in honor of Valentine’s Day. In fact, he was a very real person, killed for his faith on February 14, hence the name, Valentine’s Day.

The story goes that Valentines secretly married young couples when they couldn’t get parental approval. Another version of this claims that Emperor Claudius decided that unmarried men made better soldiers, and as such forbade the marriage of young men. Valentine then married these young couples in secret, and upon finding out, they executed him. A continuation of this story says that he fell in love with the daughter of his jailer and passed her notes. The story goes that his last note read: “from your Valentine.”

Another theory relates to the Christianization of the pagan festival of Lupercalia. This fertility festival was celebrated on February 15 in honor of Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture. During the Middle Ages it was believed that February 14 marked the start of the mating season for birds, adding to the idea of ​​romance and love. There are also theories about the Saint helping Christians to escape persecution and, once again, they relate to performing marriages that would otherwise not be allowed.

Clearly, the day originated in Italy and not the United States as many think, and February 14 became engagement day. On this day the Italians would gather in the gardens to listen to romantic poems and music. The key to all Valentine’s celebrations is that it comes from the heart.

The oldest surviving Valentine’s Day was written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, when he was detained in the Tower of London. In the 1940s, Esther Howland began selling mass-produced Valentine’s cards in America. Esther made royal creations with lace, ribbon and pictures and approximately one billion Valentine’s cards are sent today. Surprisingly, women buy most of these.

On the way Cupid, everything red, white and pink, and also hearts and arrows were connected to this romantic day.

In modern times we have adopted the practice of sending red roses, red meaning passion, and roses are the favorite flower of Venus, the goddess of love. Many people send other colors, but beware, each color has its own special meaning. Yellow roses signify friendship, a peach rose suggests that you would like to get to know someone better, and white roses signify true love and devotion.

Whoever you’d like to spoil this Valentine’s Day, just think red, white and pink, roses, hearts and love, and you can’t go wrong!