Chocolates, flowers, heart-shaped cards, and cheesy compilation movies with too many famous actors and too few lines—all these things signal the rapid approach of Valentine’s Day. But beyond all of these cliches lies an old, sugar-free legacy.

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred early in the first millennium. The most famous of these was Valentine who performed marriages for Christians—under threat of persecution—when the practice was banned for all Romans. He was thrown in jail, where he is rumoured to have wooed the jailer’s blind daughter and given her back her sight. The night before his execution, Valentine sent a note to his once-blind love. He signed it “From your Valentine,” and the rest, as they say, was history.

Well, not quite. Valentine’s Day wasn’t included in the Catholic calendar until around 500 A.D., when Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 a day in honour of the martyr(s). According to many, the celebration was intended to co-opt the existing celebration of Lupercalia, a pagan fertility rite. Lupercalia had persisted into the early rise of Christianity, but only lasted until the fifth century, when it was declared ‘un-Christian.’

Classically, it was associated, as most Saints’ days are, with religiosity and fervor. The first known commemoration of Valentine’s Day with love was made by Gregory Chaucer, in the 15th century:

“For this was on seynt Volantynys day/ Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make” —The Parlement of Foules.

The first documented written Valentine was sent by the Duke D’Orleans—from prison—to his wife in the 15th century. The practice gained traction in 1797, when the Young Man’s Valentine Writer featured generic verses for those unable to write their own. A drop in the price of postage rates, as well as the ability to mail cards anonymously, facilitated the rise of mailed Valentines. Before long, premade cards began to be assembled in English factories. These were exported to the United States in 1847 by Esther Howland. The Greeting Card Association has been giving out the ‘Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary’ every year since 2001.

Today, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on Feb. 14 in various denominations. It was booted from the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints in 1969, and left up to local or national calendars “since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14,” reads that year’s decree of the Vatican Council.

In South Korea and Japan, the holiday’s practices has been lost in translation. On Feb. 14, working women in Japan are expected to give chocolate to the men in their offices. The amount of chocolate is contingent upon how much the woman likes her coworkers—the bare minimum is called ‘obligation chocolate.’

In other countries, the celebration is seen as a highly controversial  Western import. In India, the holiday has been the object of postcolonial criticism as a practice that heightens income inequality and aids in the creation of a falsely-Westernized middle class.  For Muslim countries, like Saudi Arabia, the holiday is opposed or banned for its Christian roots. A similar celebration of love has emerged in other countries, such as Israel’s Tu B’Av and Iran’s Sepandarmazgan, but are unrelated to Valentine’s Day.

In the U.S., Valentine’s Day has become a suitable rallying point for the civil rights movement in favour of same-sex marriage. In 2012, same-sex couples were married atop the Empire State Building first the first time in history, following New York’s passage of the Marriage Equality Act. In Illinois, same-sex marriage legislation is expected to come to a senate floor vote this Thursday, Feb. 14.

In fact, the holiday takes on a broader meaning than just chocolates, flowers, and soaring Hallmark profits. Beyond a crowded Lola Rosa, Valentine’s Day at McGill will feature a ‘break-up’ with the Fossil Fuel industry by Divest McGill; V-Day McGill’s annual production of the Vagina Monologues, and other events that strive to raise awareness, money, and spirits in the fight against gender-based violence. So this Thursday, ignore the chocolate  and romantic implications and make Valentine’s Day whatever you want it to be.

Valentine’s Day Stats (courtesy of Statistics Canada)

16,084,490 — The total number of persons living in a couple (including married spouses and common-law partners) aged 15 and over in Canada, 2011.

$3.2 billion — The value of jewellery and watches sold at retailers in Canada. 2011.

$2.4 billion — The value of cosmetics and fragrances sold at retailers in Canada, 2011.

$2.9 billion — The value of stationery, office supplies, cards, gift wrap and party supplies sold at retailers in Canada, 2011.

470.0 million litres — The volume of wine sold at wineries, liquor stores and agencies in Canada, 2010-2011

$110 million — The value of sales of chocolate and confectionaries manufactured from cocao beans in Canada, February 2012.

10.5 million — The number of stems of roses produced in Canada, 2011