Valentine's Day has been celebrated for centuries. Originally, it was a pagan celebration of the Roman God of love and fertility, Lupercalia. As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the Catholic Church tried to convert pagans by replacing some holidays with Christian feasts that had similar meanings or associations. Valentine's Day became one such holiday that replaced Lupercalia. The day was named after Saint Valentine who is said to have performed weddings on this day in ancient Rome at his jail cell where he was imprisoned for performing marriages for young unmarried couples during Lupercaia celebrations which were illegal at the time because they interfered with male bonding rituals.
