"The holiest of holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Valentines Day Valentine's Day falls on February 14, and is the traditional day on which lovers in certain cultures let each other know about their love, commonly by sending Valentine's cards, which are often anonymous. The history of Valentine's day can be traced back to an obscure Catholic Church feast day, said to be in honor of Saint Valentine, are discussed below. The day's associations with romantic love arrived after the High Middle Ages, during which the concept of romantic love was formulated." Source: Wikipedia

History Channel's Valentine Day Background information on this holiday.

Saint Valentine's Day Wikipedia A detailed history from the online encyclopedia, with links.

A Brief History 
Valentine's Day the one day set aside to express your love and devotion to
that special someone. We all have elementary school  memories of buying those
boxes of little cards and giving them to our classmates. Later in life we exchanged  candy, gifts and of course those Valentine cards with humorous, touching, or in some cases cliché sayings. Where does this tradition have its foundation? Did you know it was the result of someone losing his head!

The "Valentine" tradition dates to the Roman Empire. February 14 was a
holiday to honor the queen goddess Juno. She was the goddess of women and of
marriage. On February 15 the Romans celebrated the rite of male passage to the god Lupercalia. Teenage girl's names were placed in a vase. Teenage boys would reach in and withdraw a name. The two would become companions for one year. At the end of the year another lottery was performed. This tradition continued for about 800 years until a series of events dramatically changed this practice.

In 270 AD the unstable Claudius II issued an edict forbidding marriage.
Somehow in his clouded judgment he felt by outlawing marriage he could
entice more men into his army. The Bishop of Interamna, Valentine seeing
the predicament of his followers, married many surreptitiously. Claudius
upon hearing to this challenge to his edict ordered Valentine to appear in his court.
Each tried to convert the other to their religion. It is said that Valentine while in prison fell in love with his jailer's blind daughter Asterius. (Church tradition has that he miraculously restored her vision.). His final letter before his death was signed " From your Valentine".  In frustration Claudius had the Bishop clubbed, stoned and beheaded on February 24, 270. This idea of banning marriage did not work and the tradition was restored.

In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius abolished the Feast of Lupercian and substituted
an alternative practice of putting the names of saints into the vase. Both
girls and boys were expected to draw names. They were expected to emulate the lives of the saint for one year. Lupercus was replaced with St. Valentine and the holiday continued. Needless to say the young were not really happy about the change but the tradition became a holy day as the Church's power grew.

But what about the Valentine Card. Where did it come from?

The Romans saw mid February as a time of courtship. The date February 14 became the day for young Roman males to send love letters.  This was their way of continuing the Lupercian tradition without upsetting the Church fathers.

The earliest known Valentine card, still in existence today, lies in the
British Museum in London. It was sent in 1415, by Charles Duke of Orleans to his wife,  while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

The sixteenth century Bishop of Geneva, ordered the custom of cards stopped and
reinstated the saint's lottery. This failed and even more ornate cards appeared. At this time Cupid, Venus' (the goddess of love) son was  first used. He was often shown naked with arrows tipped in a love potion, ready to melt the heart of his intended victim.

The seventeenth century brought the advent of commercially produced
"mechanical valentine" cards. Handmade  elaborate and fairly large cards, were still around while commercially produced cards were small and expensive. In 1797 "The  Young Man's Valentine Writer" was produced to help those less creative young Englishmen write verses to their hearts desire. With the lowering of postal rates and the introduction of the "mechanical valentines" the idea of mailing a valentine took hold.

Ester Howland was the first American publisher of Valentines. By 1870 her
elaborate lace cards could cost up to $35.

One side note with the advent of the mail, sometimes anonymously, racy
verses became more common. Thus several countries banned the exchange of
cards. The Chicago Post Office at the end of the 19th Century rejected some
25,000 cards as obscene.

Flower and confectionery industries began the practice exchanging candy and
flowers to the one we love.

Who knows what the advent of Email and Virtual Reality will bring to the world of love!