35. The Pope declared Valentine’s Day a feast day – though even he admitted the man and his work are a mystery
It was Pope Gelasius who first declared 14 February to be the Feast Day of Saint Valentine, a tradition that continues to this day. This was despite the fact that even the Pope didn’t know much about him. Indeed, Gelasius included Valentine in the long list of mysterious Saints “whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” Significantly, the Feast Day was included in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, the ancient calendar of holy days that remained in use until the end of the Middle Ages.
