Valentine's Day is the season of love, for showing your appreciation, and demonstrating how much you value someone - but have you ever wondered how it all began? Did St. Valentine really exist? Who sent the first Valentine's card?

Delving deeper into the 'flowers and chocolates' day, here are some fascinating facts you perhaps never knew about the most romantic day of the year!

1. Different authorities believe Valentine's Day began in various ways. Some trace it to an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia. Other experts connect the event with one or more saints of the early Christian church. Still others link it with an old English belief that birds choose their mates on February 14. Valentine's Day probably came from a combination of all three of those sources - plus the belief that spring is a time for lovers.

2. The Catholic Church recognises at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

3. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men - his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realising the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

4. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

5. According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl - who may have been his jailor's daughter - who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.

6. Another story says Valentine was an early Christian who made friends with many children. The Romans imprisoned him because he refused to worship their gods. The children missed Valentine and tossed loving notes between the bars of his cell window. This tale may explain why people exchange messages on Valentine's Day.

7. According to still another story, Valentine restored the sight of his jailor's blind daughter.

8. Another history of martyrs mentions a Saint Valentine who was bishop of Interamna and who may have been martyred in Rome. By being remembered both in Rome and in Interamna, he may have come to be considered as two people, but this is not entirely certain.

Many stories say that Valentine was executed on February 14 about AD 269.

9. A basilica was built in Saint Valentine's honour in Rome in AD 350, and a catacomb containing his remains was found on this location.

10. In Norman French, a language spoken in Normandy during the Middle Ages, the word galantine sounds like Valentine and means gallant or lover. This resemblance may have caused people to think of St. Valentine as the special saint of lovers.

11. While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial -which probably occurred around 270 AD - others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'Christianise' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival.

12. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. Later on that day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

13. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was eventually declared un-Christian and outlawed. Although the lottery had been banned by the church, the mid-February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name.

14. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 AD.

15. In 1835, what are believed to be the remains of St. Valentine were given to an Irish Priest - Father John Spratt - by Pope Gregory XVI, after he impressed the Pope with his preaching style. The gift, in a black and gold casket, can still be viewed every Valentine's Day at the Whitefriar St. Church in Dublin.

To view more fascinating facts about St. Valentine's visit http://www.ok50.com">www.ok50.com