St. Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on February 14. Originally established as a liturgical celebration in WesternChristianity to honor one or more early saints named Valentinus, it is a culturally and commercially significant event in manyregions around the world, although it is not a publicholiday in any country. According to legend, during his imprisonment, Saint Valentine healed the daughter of his guardian, Asterius, and wrote a farewellletter to her, signed "Your Valentine", before his execution. Originally, this day was associated with romantic love in Geoffrey Chaucer's circle in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it turned into a day when lovers expressed their love for each other by gifting flowers, offering sweets and sending greetingscards (known as "Valentine's Day"). In Europe, St. Valentine's Day is also used to raise awareness about epilepsy - known as St. Valentine's disease. The symbols of Valentine's Day that are used today are, first of all, hearts in various forms, pigeons and figurines of a winged Cupid. From the 19th century, handwritten Valentine's Day gave way to massproduction of greetingcards.
