WILTON MANORS, FLORIDA - JANUARY 29: Sweetheart candy hearts are seen on the shelf at the To The Moon Marketplace on January 29, 2019 in Wilton Manors, Florida. William Newcomb who works at the store said, 'they stocked up early on the heart shape candy after learning that the Necco company had filed for bankruptcy protection and went out of business.' The Sweetheart candy was being made by Necco since 1886 and is in short supply after the company went out of business as Valentine’s Day approaches. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Ever wonder why we celebrate Valentine’s Day? The origins of the holiday are a mixture of love and repopulating the world with November babies.
Nikki Lewis, co-founder of the matchmaking company, Bevy, says in 270 A.D. St. Valentine was under the rule of Emperor Claudius II who made marriage a crime to focus his soldiers at war.
St. Valentine married couples in private until he was locked up for it. While in jail he fell in love with the prison guard’s daughter, writing her the first Valentine’s Day “card.”
The day was also influenced by the Pagan holiday, Lupercalia, where Roman priests cast out evil and encouraged fertility.
Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?