It is said that history repeats itself. After Jesus Christ's crucifixion for the love of entire human race that divided the world between BC and AD, it was in 2nd century AD when another man changed the course of history by laying down his life for the sake of love, or at least the legend says so. This man was Saint Valentine. A man believed to have spiritual healing capabilities just like Jesus Christ. Legend has it that by the end of 2nd century, Christianity was on the rise and the great Roman kingdom was nearing its end. The entire kingdom was under attack from all sides by Turks and Mongols from northern Europe and Asia, demanding for more and more capable men to be recruited in its arsenal. The roman emperor at the time, Claudius II, had decided against the marriage of men for he believed that unmarried men, not emotionally attached to their families, will be able to perform greater services for the country with single mindedness.
Saint Valentine, who was a bishop at that time, took notice of this injustice and saw the pain in young lovers' eyes, who abandoned all hopes of ever being united and were sent to war to fight for their country. Seeing this, Bishop Valentine decided to go against Emperor Claudius' orders and started to marry young couples in secret. Word went out and any couple who wanted to be united in the holy matrimony approached the Bishop. But it was only a matter of time when Claudius came to know of this and gave out orders to arrest this bishop and put him into prison. And while he was awaiting his sentence, he was approached by jailor Asterius who requested him to heal his daughter and restore back sight to her blind eyes. Popular belief has it that he was able to perform this healing on Asterius' daughter that lead to a deep friendship between the Bishop and the daughter of the jailor.
It was just before Bishop Valentine's execution that he requested for a pen and paper from Asterius and wrote down a parting away message. The message "From Your Valentine" was for Asterius' daughter. Soon after writing this message, Bishop Valentine is said to have been executed on 14th February 270 AD, some believe because of the passionate love that he had developed for the jailor's daughter, while others believe that he was executed because he had decided not to give up Christianity when asked by Claudius earlier. Whatever the reason may be, 14th February in the coming years, centuries rather, came to be known as a day for all the people to declare their love. The spread of Christianity made the day famous by the name of Saint Valentine's Day. History became myth, myth became legend, people forgot its origin and purpose but, the phrase "From your Valentine" stood the test of time, and even after 1800 years, and is and will be mentioned infinite number of times on every 14th February.
It is known worldwide that 14th February is celebrated as Valentine Day. But know about its origins and history here.