Valentine’s Day is the ninth-most-celebrated holiday in the United States. In 2025, total holiday expenses nationwide were $26 billion, according to NCHstats.com. However, while modern Valentine’s Day is known as a romantic holiday, its origins stem from pagan rituals and death.
Valentine’s Day evolved from an ancient Roman holiday celebrating fertility. It was reshaped by the Catholic Church’s mission to Christianize pagan holidays to popularize the faith among the common people and converts.
Valentine’s Day is believed to have originated from the ancient Roman holiday “Lupercalia,” according to History.com. “Lupercalia” lasted from February 13-15. The ancient Romans would get drunk, sacrifice animals, and women would line up to get whipped by men, believing it would make them more fertile, according to an NPR Article, “The Dark Origins of Valentine’s Day.”
However, the name of St. Valentine’s Day comes from the third century AD, when Emperor Claudius II of Rome executed a man named Valentine, according to an article published on medfieldhistoricalsociety.com by Cheryl O’Malley titled “The Origins of Valentine’s Day.” Emperor Claudius outlawed marriage because he believed that single men made better soldiers. In response, Valentine secretly wed young couples; he was later discovered and sentenced to execution. From his jail cell, he helped his jailer’s daughter with her sickness and, before his execution, signed a note ending it with “from your Valentine.” He was executed on Feb. 14, 270 AD.
In the fifth century, Valentine was canonized a saint by the Catholic Church for his efforts to promote love. Lupercalia was then replaced with St. Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14th every year, according to history.com.
The earliest mention of modern-day Valentine’s Day is found in Geoffrey Chaucer’s fourteenth-century poem, “The Parliament of Fowls.” He repeatedly mentions “Seynt Valentynes day” being the day where “every foul cometh ther to chese his make” (to mate).
Other famous writers like William Shakespeare and poet John Donne also romanticized their works, which led to a large uptick in common romance, mainly in the elite, where they would exchange love letters, called “valentines.” Over the centuries, this practice has spread to the general public, where people now exchange flowers and love letters on Valentine’s Day.
The Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries helped play an important role in the commercialization of Valentine’s Day, according to an article called “The Origins of Valentine’s Day and Its Transition into a Capitalist Holiday,” by the Zurich Art Club. Printing allowed companies, such as Hallmark, to sell cards and gifts, and later expanded the holiday beyond romance. The commercialization of Valentine’s Day kick-started the rise of the chocolate, the greeting card, floral, and jewelry industries into the multibillion-dollar industries they are today.
