Love Letters: The Legend of Valentine'sby Heather Long | More from this Blogger 03 Feb 2007 07:32 PM Welcome to our first Love Letters. Love Letters is going to look at the history of romance and love and is another feature of our 14 Days of Romance here in the Marriage Blog. Today's Love Letters is going to look back at the Legend of Valentine's Day. Where did it come from and why do we celebrate it? The Legend of Valentine It seems appropriate to begin our great tales of romance with the legend of Valentine. In the United States, February is synonymous with candy, hearts, perfume, flowers and romance. From our smallest children making their very simple Valentine's Day Cards and heart candy with messages on them to our grandparents giving us wonderful stuffed animals hugging each other and sending us wonderful wishes of love - it seems like everyone celebrates Valentine's. But why do we celebrate it? You may have heard many of us refer to this day as the Hallmark Holiday - made infamous by the Hallmark and other greeting card companies looking to sell a wealth of Valentine Day cards and more, but there is more to this holiday than just the commercial aspects (though, truth be told, who doesn't like a heart shaped box filled with decadent chocolate?) Christians & Romans According to the Catholic Church, there are at least three recognized saints named Valentine or Valentinus. All three saints were martyrs. History books list one legend of Valentine as a priest serving in Rome sometime around the third century. The tale goes that Emperor Claudius II decided that his unmarried soldiers performed better than those who had wives and children to come back to. So, being a practical man - he outlawed marriage for his soldiers. The priest Valentine defied the Emperor and married soldiers and their loves in secret. The Emperor ordered his death when his subterfuge and defiance were discovered. Another legend details that Valentine was killed because he was helping Christians escape torture in Roman prisons. In another legend, it was Valentine himself who fell in love when he was in prison with the daughter of his jailor. Before he was put to death, he wrote a letter from your Valentine, addressed to the girl he loved. This would suggest that he might have sent the very first Valentine. There is no certainty to any of these legends, other than at some point, there was a man, possibly three of them, all named Valentine and they did some remarkable things in the name of love and devotion. From Your Valentine Like the historical Valentine, we still sign our love letters, from your Valentine and we seek to be the Valentine of another - so, who will you be the Valentine for this year? Love Letters are a part of our 14 Days of Romance here in the Marriage Blog, we hope you enjoy them! Letters of Love: My Wife, My Best Friend Learn more about Heather Long  Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago. Relevantmarriage tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags holiday observance, history of, romance, st valentine, Valentine Discuss this article
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