Saint Valentine

 Ever wonder where all this lovey dovey Valentine celebration stuff came from?

There are several competing stories, most involving men named Valentine. One of the more likely seems to be about a clergyman named Valentinus. who lived in Rome back in the third century. Christians weren't very popular back then. But Valentine was supposedly nice to them. And he even performed marriage ceremonies for Christians, or so the story goes. (Medieval stories are notorious for being just that. Stories.)

But the whole marriage-of-Christians concept had the kind of nice ring to it that allowed the story to flourish. Anyway, for whatever reason, the Romans in charge sentenced him to death for his crimes, and he was beheaded on Feb 14, 270. Centuries later he was made a saint.

The idea of celebrating Valentinus's death with symbols of love didn't take hold right away. By some accounts it wasn't until the Italian Renaissance in the 14th or 15th centuries that people started celebrating love. (It took over one thousand years for love to take hold in the popular culture!)

In the meantime, it's always a good idea to do something sweet for your love, whether on Valentinus's birthday or not.