Which 8th-century manuscript recorded the Feast of Saint Valentine?

The Gelasian Sacramentary is the 8th-century manuscript associated with recording the Feast of Saint Valentine.

The Gelasian Sacramentary is a Christian liturgical book containing prayers and texts used by priests in celebrating the Eucharist and other rites. Its surviving tradition includes a February calendar entry for Saint Valentine, making it an important early written witness to the feast.

The name can be misleading. The book is traditionally linked with Pope Gelasius I, who lived in the 5th century, but the surviving manuscript tradition is later. The oldest surviving manuscript is an 8th-century Vatican copy, commonly identified as MS Reginensis 316. Scholars generally regard the sacramentary as a composite work compiled around the middle of the 8th century, probably near Paris.

It is also wrong to say that Pope Gelasius created Valentine’s Day as a romantic holiday. The sacramentary documents a Christian feast; the association with romantic love developed centuries later, particularly through late medieval literature and custom.