The Diocese of Pittsburgh marked Valentine’s Day by spreading a message of love, but not the kind between two people.  

“Happy Valentine’s Day! When you think of this day, love for your spouse, your family, and your friends may come to mind,” the diocese posted on Facebook. “But have you ever thought of deepening your love for Christ on Valentine’s Day?”

The Catholic Church recognizes that true love runs deeper than that which Valentine’s Day has come to represent. Indeed, the day marks the end of National Marriage Week, a week-long celebration that includes World Marriage Day, as well as Valentine’s Day.

National Marriage Week provides “an opportunity to focus on building a culture of life and love that begins with supporting and promoting marriage and the family,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said. This year’s focus was on the notion of being “Called to the Joy of Love.”  

Valentine’s Day proper originally was a way to celebrate the work of St. Valentine of Rome. Although there has been some disagreement about the accuracy of some details of Valentine’s life, most historians agreed that he died around the year 270. He later became the patron saint of engaged couples and happy marriages, according to history.com.

It was later in the 14th century that Valentine’s Day assumed the added aspect of being a romantic day to show your love how much you care, according to britannica.com. Then, around the mid-1800s, a Cadbury chocolatier saw it as an opportunity to wrap his candies in special packaging so he could pounce upon a marketing opportunity, starting the tradition of giving chocolates, history.com reports.