Have you ever wondered about the history of Valentine’s Day? Well, there are three different legends that the Catholic Church recognizes about men named Valentine, which is how Valentine’s Day received its name. 

One of them, Valentine, was a priest in the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. He died February on 14.

Another one is St. Valentine of Terni. He was a bishop, and he was also beheaded by Claudius ll outside Rome on February 14. He was known as the patron saint of lovers and patron of epileptics. It is said that hearing two lovers quarreling, Valentino offered them a rose and begged them to hold it between their hands together without getting pricked by its thorns, and after some time they returned and asked him to join them in marriage. Another version of this story has it that the saint was able to inspire love in the young couple by making several pairs of pigeons fly around them and exchanging sweet gestures of affection. This is believed to be where the term “love birds” originated.

The final person was another Valentine. Stories suggest that he may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, the imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl—possibly his jailor’s daughter—who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today.

We have many different ways of celebrating this holiday, all including some form of love and kindness. Some people will give cards or letters. Others will give gifts, such as flowers and chocolates. Let’s see how students at Okawville celebrated their Valentine’s Day! 

We did a survey to see what Okawville kids did to celebrate their Valentine’s Day and their opinions on it. 129 people answered this survey. 48.1% of people consider Valentine’s Day a holiday, and 64.3% of people like this holiday. Some people (43.4%) didn’t give a gift and 37.2% didn’t receive one. However, the most gift given and received was chocolate. There are many good candies for Valentine’s day. Here are the percentages of what candies people at Okawville like. 83 people (64.3%) like chocolate, 48 people (37.2%) like fun dip, 35 people (27.1%) like sweet tarts, 34 people (26.4%) like suckers, 21 people (16.3%) like other candies, 21 people (16.3%) like conversation hearts, and 5 people (3.9%) don’t like candy at all. 

As you can see, there are many things about Valentine’s Day you can do, many stories about it, and many great gifts to receive and give.