The real St Valentine

Like a hippy goth, the real St Valentine keeps his flower-adorned skull in the Bailica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Allegedly. There are also furher relics in many man places, including Prague, Lesbos, Franc, Vienna, Glasgow and Birmingham. Photo by Dnalor01 from Wikipedia.

He was probably a priest in Rome, who managed to convert the Judge in whose house he was held under house arrest, by restoring the Judge's blind daughter's sight. This didn't endear him to the Roman authorities, especially when the Judge freed all the local prison's Christian inmates.

He doesn't become the patron Saint of courtly love until Chaucer, who may have linked the feast day of St Valentine with the belief that birds courted and paired in mid-February. And of course when Chaucer said something it tended to stick.

Around the world

St Valentine's day is February 14th for most Christian communities, except the Eastern Orthodox who often celebrate different dates to everyone else (Christmas 7th Jan, Easter a week late), and have posponed him till July. Also, ironically, the Catholics who've taken him out of the General Roman Calendar, though they allow people to celebrate him locally.

Valentines are another Christian tradition that has spread beyond the Western realms: though not as popular as Christmas, Valentine's Day is observed very widely in eastern Asia, and even Saudi Arabia where for a while the sale of red things around mid February was banned by the religious police.

In answer to Valentine's Day, a number of other traditions have sprung up. These include anti-Valentines days, celebrating or commiserating with singles, such as South Korea's Black Day on April 14th. Sorry people who didn't get the Valentine's declarations they were hoping for dress all in black and eat noodles covered in black bean paste.

And for those who fear Valentine's Day is too feminine, March 14th has become the day of the return match. In Japan, women give gifts in February, and these are returned by the men on White Day a month later. Men's presents are supposed to be more expensive.

Whereas the US and Australia go in the opposite direction: fearing that the original Valentine's is too biased towards what women want (romance and chocolate), March 14th was designated Steak and Blowjob Day. This has received some criticism for its sexist overtones, so you might instead want to celebrate Pi Day, when 3/14 as it's designated in the US celebrates the mathematical constant instead. As long as it's celebrated with pies, we're on board.