By Natalee Webb-Rubino

Valentine’s Day was not always a joyful celebration. It originated from the beheading of a Priest named Valentine in A.D. 270. 

Valentine secretly married couples against a ban enacted by Roman Emperor Claudius II. The emperor believed men were not joining his army because of their duty to their wives and families. Claudius banned marriages and engagements to solve his infantry enlistment problem. 

During the carnal “Feast of Lupercalia,” on February 14th in A.D. 270, Claudius had Valentine executed by decapitation. During his incarceration Valentine became friends with his jailor’s daughter. Before his guillotine walk, he left a farewell note for her. The letter was signed “from your Valentine.”

Another morbid February 14th is Chicago’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. Gang leader Al Capone sent four of his Associates to make a hit on his rival, Bugs Moran. Dressed in police uniforms, the thugs entered the Lincoln Park garage, lined up 7 of Moran’s gang members against a wall, and then shot them with machine guns. In all, 70 rounds of ammunition were pummeled into Moran’s hoodlums immediately killing 6. The lone survivor would not testify against Capone.

Following Emperor Claudius’s execution of the Priest Valentine, the Christian Church proclaimed him a Saint. As “St. Valentine” he became the patron Saint of lovers, people with epilepsy, and beekeepers. 

In A.D.496, then Pope Gelasius put an end to the pagan “Feast of Lupercalia” by declaring February 14th to be “St. Valentine’s Day.” Instead of pagan rituals, gifts of love messages, poems and flowers were exchanged. 

The first mailing of a handwritten “Valentine Card” was posted in 1806. In 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, MO., began producing “Valentines DAY Cards.” Now simply known as Hallmark, they remain the leader in Valentines Day card sales.

Boston has a unique symbolism for Valentine’s Day, the “bridge of locks.” Have you ever wondered why the fence on the bridge at the Hynes Convention T stop has so many padlocks on it? The locks attached to the Bridge’s fencing are “love locks,” a globally recognized symbol of love whose tradition began in Paris. Some of the locks adorning the fence are professionally engraved while others simply have their “who-loves-who” written with a thick magic marker.  

In a survey by WalletHub in 2025 of 100 of the largest cities in America, Boston ranked #14. With its quaint charm, amazing waterfront views, and romantic restaurants, Boston is the perfect place for romance on this now “amorous” Valentines Day. 

Celebrate the day with joyful hearts!