Every February, across the world candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between lovers, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this day? The history of Valentine’s Day is disguised in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains mixture of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, who all of them have their own story.One legend says 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 banned marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of this new 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.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.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 that may have been his jailor’s daughter and she was blind too who visited him during his confinement. it is mentioned that he wrote her a letter, which he signed ‘From your Valentine,’ (an expression that is still in use today) just before his death but the girl received the letter and in the instance that she opens the letter a miracle is performed and she brought back her sight. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is vague, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure.But in my country we have a day which called sepandar mazgan or something like that, they say this day is just like valentine’s day which our ancestors celebrate it even many years before real saint valentine and I`m not sure about the story of this day but I believe as we’re going forward in the global village we should think globally, in my opinion there isn’t any problem if we celebrate these two days. what whould happen if we have 2 lovers day in Iran? one international day and one traditional day! I like it more this way;)