St. Valentine’s Day may well be believed to be a Western Civilization holiday, commercially created by candy makers and florists alike. But in actuality, St. Valentine’s Day has been celebrated for ages, since around 300AD. There are quite a few legends of lore that tell the tale of St. Valentine and his quest to protect the sanctity of marriage and the rights of lovers.

A popular legend has St. Valentine as a Roman Catholic Priest in the 3rd century AD, who secretly performed forbidden marriage rites, much to the displeasure of the Emperor at the time. He was caught and sentenced to death, and as legend has it, he died sometime in the middle of February.

Another legend tells the tale of St. Valentine imprisoned to be put to death for angering the Romans, all the while being visited by the enamored daughter of the prison warden. St. Valentine fell in love with her, and before being put to death, sent her a love note signed: “From your Valentine”.

Whichever legend holds the truth or if the real story is something else all together, what matters most is that St. Valentine was to the world a figure of romance and heroism, and was someone to be celebrated. February 14th could have been chosen to commemorate St. Valentine because it was his final day, or because the French thought it marked the beginning of the bird mating season; either way February 14th is a day for romance, for young lovers and old lovers, those who are married and those who are single. He gave the world hope and an ideal to achieve. Whatever legend you believe, St. Valentine is someone to be remembered, so this year on Valentine’s Day, do what St. Valentine would have done and send your loved one a love note. The most romantic ones can be found here at GotFreeCards.com. “Let live and let love!”