Three bloody Valentines
Ever wonder who this Valentine was anyway? The Catholic Encyclopedia lists not one, but three St. Valentines, all martyrs, who died on February 14. One was a Roman priest, another a bishop of Interamna (Terni), the last an obscure martyr from North Africa. The feast of St. Valentine was first declared by Pope Gelasius I in 456. Later, in the 19the century, Pope Gregory XVI donated various relics associated with St. Valentine to Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland, making it the hotspot for pilgrimage on February 14. However, in 1969, the Catholic Church removed Valentine’s Day from the official holiday calendar, because of its largely legendary origin. But, this didn’t end the celebration of Valentine’s Day, the popularity of which had been blossoming in America since the 19th century, when Esther Howland first mass produced valentines of embossed paper lace. Today, February 14th is the second largest card-sending holiday after Christmas, with over a billion cards sent annually.