We all know that Valentine’s Day is celebrated every year on February 14, but where did this tradition come from?

Valentine’s Day is a combination of ancient Roman, Christian, and medieval traditions. The story of this patron saint is shrouded in mystery. The Catholic Church recognizes three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One of the stories states that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. Emperor Claudius II had decided that single men are the ideal soldiers rather than those with wives and families, so he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine knew that this wasn’t right, so he defied Claudius and continued to marry couples in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered by Claudius, he ordered his execution. There is another story that also involves Claudius, who executed St. Valentine of Interamna, a bishop, who was beheaded for refusing to renounce his faith and converting new followers.

There is another story where Valentine is said to have sent the first “valentine” greeting. He was imprisoned and fell in love with a young girl, who may have possibly been his jailor’s daughter; she visited him during his time in confinement. Before he died, he wrote her a letter that was signed “From your Valentine,” which is still a phrase used today.

Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. By the early 1700s, it became common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. Due to improvements in printing technology, printed cards began to replace handwritten letters by the 1900s. Nowadays, more than 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, which places Valentine’s Day as the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, just behind Christmas.