Valentine's Day is a day for celebrating love, friendship and the memory of that hopeless romantic, Saint Valentine himself -- or so some may think.

Despite many stories about Valentine's Day and St. Valentine, the reasons for the celebration -- like love itself -- are shrouded in mystery and confusion.

Lupercalia

Some accounts say Valentine's Day might have originated from a Roman festival known as Lupercalia, a fertility festival celebrating the Roman god Lupercus. Like Valentine's Day, Lupercalia was celebrated in mid-February -- but this connection might also be nothing more than speculation.

"Valentine's Day has no explicit connection to Lupercalia," said Paul Harvey, head of the department of classical and Mediterranean studies at Penn State. He added the supposed connection might have arisen because of the similarity in dates.

Valentine's Day did eventually replace Lupercalia, Harvey said, another reason some people might suspect it originated from the festival.

"Between 426 and 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius I abolished the festival of Lupercalia and urged people to celebrate the feast of St. Valentine instead," Harvey said.

Despite that fact, "We can't tie Lupercalia to the modern Valentine's Day idea of giving gifts to lovers," he said.

Valentine

One known fact is that Gelasius named his new holiday after St. Valentine; unfortunately the origins of that man are also obscure.

"There were two saints, both named Valentinus, whose festival days were in the middle of February," Harvey said. "As it turns out, 19th century Catholic research showed that the two different saints were actually one man."

Despite the dearth of facts about Valentine, there are several romantic stories about his life and death.

According to legend, when Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage, believing it was spoiling his soldiers, Valentine helped young lovers marry in secret.

Legend says Valentine was imprisoned for this and while interned, he fell in love with a girl, who might have been his jailer's blind daughter. Before he died he wrote her a letter and signed it "From your Valentine."

"It's charming," Harvey said -- but, he said, the legend is false.