Yet again, love is in the air, as friends, couples and families celebrate this year’s wonderful holiday with flowers, chocolates, cards, gifts and kindness in the name of St. Valentine.

Valentine’s Day evolved “from the ancient Roman ritual of Lupercalia that welcomed spring to the card-giving customs of Victorian England,” history.com editors stated. The holiday shows Christian and Roman influence. 

In one legend, a saint named Valentine, or Valentinus, was a Catholic priest that served during the third century in Rome. He married young couples in secret after Emperor Claudius II forbade it for young men, realizing that they made better soldiers if they didn’t have families. After Valentine’s actions were discovered, he was put to death outside of Rome. And so, in honor of his noble actions, Valentine’s Day became known as the day to celebrate love.

In another story, it is believed he was the first to send a “valentine” to the jailor’s daughter who came to visit him while in confinement. Valentine had been executed, however, for helping beaten and tortured Christians escape Roman prisons. This saint also presumably signed the letter to the daughter “From your Valentine,” a common phrase used today in cards and gifts. 

The holiday itself has pagan origins, as it celebrates the anniversary of St. Valentine’s death or burial, which happened nearly 1800 years ago. It was the Christian church’s attempt at “christianizing” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia, a fertility festival honoring Roman god of agriculture Faunus, and Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. What made it a day of romance was the beginning of birds’ mating season and English poet Geoffrey Chaucer’s first record of St. Valentine’s Day as a romantic celebration. This is why, today, people are met with chocolates, valentines, and flowers, Feb. 14, marking the approaching spring and the newly rejuvenated love in the air.