February 14 has always been celebrated as Lovers Day for as long as I can remember. The nature of the celebration however remains a subject of debate. While majority feel you should profess or renew your love with your significant other, some schools of thoughts believe it has absolutely nothing to do with courtly love. The above prompted me to dig deep into the topic and here's what I found.

VALENTINE's DAY
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine is an annual holiday celebrated on February 14. It originated as a Western Christian liturgical feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus, and is recognized as a significant cultural and commercial celebration in many regions around the world, although it is not a public holiday in any country.

Historical archives make mention of at least three different individuals credited with the name of Saint Valentine (or Valentinus). The three discussed here were all martyred for their faith and have been recognized by the Catholic Church.
The first is described as a priest who resided in Rome and the second is described as a Bishop who resided in Interamna (known today as Terni) in Italy. The third Saint Valentine is said to have practiced in Africa with a number of associates prior to his martrydom, but nothing further is known of this particular personage and it is doubtful that he is associated in any manner with the modern day celebration of Saint Valentine's Day.

1. Saint Valentine: Holy Priest of Rome:
The date of this Saint Valentine's birth is not known. Along with Saint Marius and his family, Saint Valentine assisted the martyrs during the persecution they suffered under the rule of Claudius II (also known as Claudius the Goth and Claudius the Cruel). In addition, since Rome was at the time involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns, the emperor found it difficult to recruit the male populace into joining his military leagues. Believing this to be because Roman men were adverse to leaving their loved ones or their familes, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements within the City of Rome. Saint Valentine and Saint Marius, however, continued to perform wedding ceremonies in secret. When is was discovered that Saint Valentine was defying the emperor's decree, he was apprehended and dispatched by Claudius to the Prefect of Rome who, being unable to force the saint to renounce Christianity, ordered that Valentine be clubbed, stoned and then beheaded. According to tradition, while Valentine waited in prison for his execution, he corresponded with those under his care by sending letters and love notes to his parishioners. It is also believed that while incarcerated, the Bishop fell in love with a young woman who visited him during his confinement. According to some sources, this was the blind daughter (whose name may have been Julia) of of Asterius, the jailer. It is said that God enabled Valentine to miraculously restore the girl's sight. Popular belief indicates that Valentine's farewell message to his love contained a closing that has now transcended time: "From Your Valentine." The saint was executed on February 14 in either 269 A.D. or 270 A.D.

2. Saint Valentine: Bishop of Interamna:
This Saint Valentine is said to have been scourged, imprisoned and beheaded by Placidus, Prefect of Interanma. The relic bones of this Saint Valentine are housed in a basilica in Terni, a town in Italy which hails Saint Valentine as its Patron Saint. It is believed that the saint, who lived in the Third Century, dedicated his life to the Christian community of Terni, becoming the first Bishop of the town. Adored by the populace, the fame of Saint Valentine's holiness and miracles reached Rome, his name being linked with love because, according to legend, he was the first religious personage to oversee the celebration of marriage between a pagan man and a Christian woman. Sentenced to death in Rome, he was martyred on February 14 along the Via Flaminia and swiftly buried in order to prevent rioting by the Christians. It is said that three of Saint Valentine's disciples managed to find the body, transferring it to Terni, where the remains were interred within a sacred place. The Basilica of Saint Valentino was later erected in the same location to honor the saint and invoke his protection and blessing. Every year on February 14, the town of Terni now hosts exhibitions, fairs and cultural events which attract many tourists to the area.

3. Saint Valentine of Africa:
This missionary is said have practiced in Nothern Africa and part of the middle east with his associates sometime in the third century. However, nothing is documented about him except that he was martyred on the 14th of February.

February 14 first became associated with romantic love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines".

While there are no definitive written accounts of any of the aforementioned Saint Valentines, all of whom lived in the Third Century and apparently died on exactly the same day, there is a more recent and documented connection to Ireland. In 1836, Pope Gregory XVI sent a gift to the Carmelite Church in Dublin...recognition of the work carried out by the former prior of the Church, Father John Spratt, widely-known as a very holy man. The gift was a relic of a Christian martyr...a small gold-bound casket which contained the earthly remains of one Saint Valentine (which it might have been if indeed, there is more than one, is not clear). The relic had been exhumed from the Cemetery of Saint Hyppolytus on the Tibertine Way in Rome, placed into a golden casket and transported to Dublin, where it was enshrined with great ceremony in the little Carmelite Church. Every year, on February 14, the casket is carried in solemn procession to the high altar for a special Mass dedicated to young people and all those in love.

Pardon the long write-up. I had to really dig deep among fable, myth, legend, fiction and fact. Personally, I don't have problems with how anyone chooses to mark the day so long as true love is being celebrated. Pls drop ur comments on what you feel about the Feast day.


http://www.novareinna.com/festive/saintval.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine
http://saintannes.co.za/African Saints.htm

Ok. Saint valentine colour na red. No wonder

The love taught by our lord Jesus Christ are to be shown every days of our life.