Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 as St. Valentine’s Day in 496 AD. It was not until much later, however, that the day became ...

One of the most common explanations is that Valentine's Day has its origins in the ancient Roman fertility festival of ...

The romantic holiday has been celebrated for centuries, but the history behind it is much darker than red roses.

Valentine as the Roman Empire became less pagan. At the end of the 5th century, the celebration of Lupercalia was forbidden by Pope Gelasius I, who is often attributed with replacing it with St.

Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day? Here's a quick Valentine's Day history, from possible pagan origins to Catholic saints ...

From where he sat surveying the raucous celebration of Lupercalia, Pope Gelasius I had seen enough. It was “un-Christian,” he decided, and, now that it was the 5th century and Christians were ...

The Festa de la Llum (Festival of Light) returns to Mallorca’s Cathedral on Sunday, February 2. This will give visitors the ...

In the 5th century A.D., Pope Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia and declared that on Feb. 14, people would celebrate Saint Valentine instead. Although the stories behind Saint Valentine are a bit ...

From Constantinople the Litany was taken to Rome and the West. Pope Gelasius I (492-96) introduced into the Mass an intercession of litanic character, the nine-fold Kyrie eleison which still survives.