Thinking of You by Lauren Davis

Valentine’s Day arrives every February wrapped in pink paper and expectations. Cards, chocolates, flowers, and familiar symbols of romance seem to appear overnight. Yet long before Valentine’s Day became associated with romance and gift-giving, it was something very different — quieter, solemn, and rooted in faith rather than courtship. 

February 14 was originally established in the Christian calendar as the feast day of one or more saints named Valentine. These Valentines were early Christian martyrs, remembered not for romance, but for their faith during a time when Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire. In the early Church, feast days were meant to honor lives given in devotion — not to celebrate relationships or exchange gifts.

Part of the confusion surrounding Valentine’s Day comes from the fact that there isn’t one definitive Saint Valentine. Historical records reference several martyrs by that name, and their stories overlap.

What they share is the same ending: imprisonment and execution for refusing to renounce their Christian faith. Under Emperor Claudius II Gothicus, Christians were viewed as threats to Roman religious unity because they would not worship Roman gods. Many were executed publicly. In that context, Valentine’s death was part of a broader and brutal persecution — at times remembered as a massacre of believers who remained faithful.

Because Valentine was believed to have died on February 14, early Christians marked that date as his feast day. It was not a celebration of indulgence, romance, or food. It was a day of remembrance.

Over time, this Christian observance existed alongside older seasonal traditions. One often mentioned is Lupercalia, an ancient Roman mid-February festival involving purification rituals and fertility symbolism. While sometimes linked in popular retellings, historians note that Lupercalia and the Christian feast of Valentine were separate observances. When Pope Gelasius I formally designated February 14 as a feast day near the end of the fifth century, it likely provided a Christian focus during that season rather than continuing pagan customs. 

For centuries, Valentine’s Day remained simply a saint’s feast day. The connection to romance came much later. In the late 1300s, English poet Geoffrey Chaucer made the first known written association between Valentine’s Day and love. In Parlement of Foules, he described February 14 as the day when birds gather to choose their mates. Chaucer was writing within the medieval tradition of courtly love, and his poetry gradually shaped cultural imagination. Before Chaucer, there is no written evidence tying Valentine’s Day to romantic customs.

At its origin, Valentine’s Day pointed to something deeper than romance.

Reflecting on where the day began reminds us that love, at its truest, is sacrificial. Scripture speaks of a love willing to lay itself down — “love your wife as Christ loved the church” — not as a burden, but as a model of devotion marked by care, intention, and sincerity rather than excess. It is a love that chooses faithfulness and sees worth even when it costs something.

That kind of love invites us to pause. Perhaps “Be my Valentine” simply means choosing to love with care — seeing someone fully and valuing them enough to respond with intention.

Author and speaker Gary Smalley once used the image of an ordinary fiddle compared to a Stradivarius. Most people would walk past a worn fiddle without a second glance. But if they realized it was a Strad — rare and extraordinary — they would stop, draw in a breath, and behold it differently.

The instrument didn’t change. The perspective did.

Perhaps Valentine’s Day offers a similar moment. A chance to truly see the person we love — not as familiar or expected, but as someone worthy of wonder. Someone who can still take our breath away.

That spirit guided us as we curated our Valentine gift packages this season. Each package is thoughtfully assembled and ready to give, including sweets, a rose-scented candle, a piece of jewelry, and a simple “thinking of you…” card, blank inside so your own words can speak. Wrapped and prepared, all that’s left is to sign the card and give.

Maybe Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be reinvented. Perhaps it simply needs to be remembered — as a quiet reminder to slow down, to see clearly, and to let love begin with a simple thought: thinking of you.

References

          Valentine’s Day: origins, feast day, and traditions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day

          Saint Valentine and early Christian martyrdom
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Valentine

          Lupercalia and early Roman festivals
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lupercalia

          Geoffrey Chaucer, Parlement of Foules
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlement_of_Foules

 

I’m Lauren—a writer, educator, and novelty quilter with over 30 years of experience in service and sales. I’ve taught high school English, worked as a journalist, and now run Artisan Shop USA, a marketplace supporting handmade artistry and the sharing of faith, family, and country. I’m also a wife, mom, and lifelong lover of storytelling.