Valentine’s Day: Who was he and why is he known as the “patron of love”?

The February 14 of each year, couples of lover, boyfriends or husbands enthusiastically celebrate the traditional Valentine’s day, a date that over the centuries has become more and more important, especially for people who like to express their deepest feelings to their “better half”, through symbolic gestures or particular details.

Despite its existence is contested and that there is no specific historical version of Valentine’s Day and its relationship to all that is related to love, tradition indicates that he was a priest who lived in ancient Rome and that during the reign of Claudio II, also known as “El Gótico”, he was in charge of uniting in marriage all the couples who requested it.

According to the most popular stories about Valentine, he married young lovers behind the back of Claudius II, who during his empire decided to ban marriages in order to train more determined and courageous soldiers.

Couples who didn’t want to spoil their love because of this ban were going to Valentine’s Day for him to unite them and give them his blessing.

Upon learning what Valentine was doing behind his back, Claudio II, enraged by such contempt, decided to take drastic measures against him and decided pursue him, imprison him and finally, execute, February 14, 270 (in some accounts it is stated that his death occurred in 273).

Centuries later, Gelasio I, Pope number 49 in the history of the Catholic Church, established February 14 as a memorial to Valentine’s Day, a tradition that continues to this day.