Valentine’s Day: Then Versus Now
Sophia Aguilar | Feb. 17, 2026
Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrated each year on Feb. 14. It is a day to celebrate your love for your partners, friends and family. This is typically shown through purchasing items such as heart-shaped chocolates or a bouquet of red roses. But how has this once religious holiday turned into such a capitalistic and commercialized day?
Valentine’s Day ostensibly celebrates St. Valentine, but it is not certain who St. Valentine actually was. According to History.com, within the Catholic church, there are three different St. Valentines, with each being a part of a different tale, from a priest in Rome to an Italian Bishop.
One story says that Roman emperor, Claudius Gothicus, outlawed marriage for young men with the belief that unmarried men made better soldiers. St. Valentine continued to marry couples in secret because he believed this was unfair.
Another St. Valentine's tale is that he was imprisoned for attempting to help others escape the harsh abuse of prisons. When confined, he sent a card to his lover, a young girl who was rumored to be the daughter of his jailor. This card is referred to as the first Valentine’s card.
It is also believed that the holiday is linked to the Roman celebration of Lupercalia, which was a fertility festival that was held for over a thousand years. Its purpose was to help women with childbearing purposes by physically harming them. People lined the streets to witness men having races to see who could hit a woman first. Women would volunteer to be whipped, believing the pain would help with fertility. The holiday also gave men a chance to relinquish anger, drink and be rambunctious.
The idea that there is a link between Lupercalia and Valentine’s Day is due to the fact that the final day of Lupercalia was Feb. 15. The meaning of Lupercalia was to connect families by bringing a child into the world, similar to the goal of Valentine’s Day, which is to share one’s love with family. Lupercalia was outlawed during the fifth century, after Valentine’s Day was declared an official holiday by Pope Gelasius. By the pope’s standards, Lupercalia was considered inconsistent with Christian beliefs and practices.
Valentine’s Day greetings date back to the Middle Ages, with the first written one still in existence being a poem by Charles, duke of Orleans, for his wife in 1415. By 1900, handwritten cards began to be replaced by printed ones. The decrease in postage rates meant more people could send their loved ones cards, which increased the popularity of Valentine’s Day in America. With an increase in cards being sold and sent out, there came an increase in the commercialization of the holiday.