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A saint's name hijacked by greeting cards and conscripted into mandatory February romance.
means A card, gift, or sweetheart associated with February 14th, the feast day celebrating love.
from From Saint Valentine, a third-century Roman martyr; Chaucer first linked his day to mating birds in 1382, and Hallmark took it from there.
Plural saintsMultiple Valentines were martyred; the romantic one stays mysterious.
Chaucer's sparkA 1382 poem first tied Valentine to love.
Card economyRoughly a billion valentines exchanged yearly worldwide.
Patron rangeAlso patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy.