Dia del amory la Amistad, San Valentin, Saint Valentin, Dia dos Namorados, and Valentinsdag are just several names for the one day American’s call ‘Valentine’s Day’. The day of love is simply to show appreciation for those you care most about or even the friends that have been by your side since day one. February 14th is a day when love is celebrated widely across the world, now this might have you thinking, what makes this day “the day of love”?

Valentine’s Day revolves around the saint, Saint Valentine, who was a poet in medieval times that first presented the idea of the romantic traditions we follow annually. On the internet, there is evidence that there is more than one Saint Valentine because many men picked up the torch and carried on the traditions of Saint Valentine.

The true backstory about Valentine’s Day is not as wonderful or romantic as one would think. One Saint Valentine was supposedly a Roman priest in the third century who performed secret weddings against the wishes of the authorities. Imprisoned in the home of a noble, he healed his captor’s blind daughter, causing the whole household to convert to Christianity and sealing his fate. Before being tortured and decapitated on February 14th, he sent the girl a note signed “Your Valentine.”

The 14th of February was not just a random day someone chose; it also has a lot of religious backstories linked to it. After centuries of celebrating the traditions, the pope of the Catholic church declared that February the 14th was Valentine’s Day. The reason for this was to end all remaining paganism.

Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers and friends, but companies make a boatload of money off the tradition as well. According to ABC News, an average person spends $136.57 and in total $18.2 billion dollars on Valentine’s day items. All that money ranges between items such as flowers, cards, and candy that people buy for their loved ones. In celebration of this holiday, if you see someone tell them, “Feliz día de amor y amistad”.