How many valentines did the pope choose

Their holy duties include interceding in earthly affairs and entertaining petitions from living souls. In this respect, St. Valentine has wide-ranging spiritual responsibilities. People call on him to watch over the lives of lovers, of course, but also for interventions regarding beekeeping and epilepsy, as well as the plague, fainting and traveling. The flower-adorned skull of St. In the early s, the excavation of a catacomb near Rome yielded skeletal remains and other relics now associated with St.

The medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer often took liberties with history, placing his poetic characters into fictitious historical contexts that he represented as real. The poem refers to February 14 as the day birds and humans come together to find a mate. Because of the abundance of St. Valentines on the Roman Catholic roster, you can choose to celebrate the saint multiple times each year. Besides February 14, you might decide to celebrate St.

Valentine of Viterbo on November 3. Or maybe you want to get a jump on the traditional Valentine celebration by feting St. Valentine of Raetia on January 7.

According to the legend, Lupercalia was officially outlawed right before the declaration of February 14 as St. Legend has it that the story of St. Valentine was created by the Catholic Church as part of its attempt at eliminating pagan festivals. Another little-known historical fact is that February 14 had for a long time been day on which a St. Valentine, most likely one of the previously mentioned two, was honored since it was arguably the day on which he was martyred.

However, in , the Roman Catholic Church removed the name of St. Valentine from the liturgical calendar because very little is known about his life and the circumstances of his martyrdom. The mystery shrouding St. Regardless of whether or not he existed and what he actually did to acquire sainthood, St.

Valentine became the patron of love, whether between man and woman or among human beings in general. Valentine became almost solely associated with romantic love. We use cookies to improve your experience on our site and to show you personalized advertising. For more information, please read our Privacy Policy. So, he decided that February 14 th would be the day that we would celebrate Saint Valentine.

Although some medieval historians refute that Pope Gelasius was the one to replace Lupercalia with a Saint Valentine celebration. So who was Saint Valentine exactly? All that we really know is that Saint Valentine was martyred and officially recognized as a saint.

It is widely known that he was a Roman Christian priest during the days of Emperor Claudius, who persecuted Christians. Claudius forbade priests from marrying couples in the church, and tried to encourage polygamy.