又是一年情人节。提前半个月，各路商家就开始渲染节日气氛：商场里的玫瑰心型饰品，路边大幅的广告牌，还有网上温馨浪漫的节日广告语和动画……情人节，想不过都难！虽然节日只是个借口，狂欢才是真实目的，但还是有必要了解一下节日的来历的，至少和别人谈起来的时候也有的谈。

Valentine's Day started during the Roman Empire. Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in many bloody¹ military campaigns. Claudius the Cruel, as he was known at the time, was having difficulty in getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their lovers or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.

A Christian² priest named Valentine came to defend love in the empire. Valentine began to secretly marry couples despite the emperor's orders. When Emperor Claudius was informed of these ceremonies, Valentine was sent to prison where he remained until his death on February 14 in the year 270.

It wasn't until a few hundred years later when Valentine's Day began to develop as we know it. At that time Christianity was beginning to take control of Europe.

In honor of his sacrifice for love, Valentine was made a saint. And as part of the effort the Church was making to do away with pagan holidays, Valentine's Day came to replace a mid-February fertility festival called Lupercalia.

Today the tradition of honoring St. Valentine continues. The themes of love and fertility taken from the ancient meanings of the holiday have endured and evolved through time.