By michael vivar
The typical, greeting card impression of Valentine's Day is people taking time to appreciate the true love of a soul mate.
The holiday isn't as saccharine for some as they succumb to loneliness elicited from thinking their life is "less than" for being single.
A certain bleakness in the latter scenario is actually more in keeping with the rather macabre origins of the holiday.
The first similar holiday was the Ancient Roman Lupercalia during the reign of Claudius II. It was "celebrated" in February with games, animal sacrifice and matchmaking.
Three apocryphal stories surmise the name, "Valentine." The first was a priest who married couples contravening the Roman emperor who wanted single men for the army.
Another is the story of a Roman prisoner who fell in love with his jailer's daughter. Before execution, he sent the message, "From your Valentine."
The third allegory references religious love. This Valentine, yet another priest in imperial Rome, submitted to execution rather than renounce his Christian faith.
Esther Howland was the daughter of a stationer in Worcester, MA. In 1850, she mass-produced stylized Valentine cards which mainstreamed the holiday in America.
In 1969, the Catholic Church purged celebrations of saints with dubious historical provenance. St. Valentine was one. The holiday has endured in pop culture.
Through the 20th Century, companies like Hallmark pulled Valentine's Day further into commercialism. Some argue this is cynical as the holiday's dark origins.