At the end of National Marriage Week, it’s appropriate to celebrate the ties that bind, and that’s what many Americans do.

The Catholic Church takes that love to a spiritual level, and this year the Archdiocese of Milwaukee celebrated Valentine’s Day by calling for strong marriage bonds.

“Saint Valentine is the patron saint of love, young people, and happy marriages," the Archdiocese said on its Facebook page. "Today is a perfect day to thank God for the love He offers you each day. Happy St. Valentine’s Day!”

Valentine’s Day has its roots in marking a way to honor St. Valentine of Rome. Although some of the details of Valentine’s life are sketchy and disagreed upon, most scholars acknowledge that he died around the year 270. He later was named the patron saint of engaged couples and happy marriages, an article on history.com says. 

Centuries later, in the 1300s, Valentine’s Day took on a new meaning, with humans using it as a way to show their love to their significant others, according to britannica.com. 

It was even later when candy became a mainstay. Around the mid-1800s, a Cadbury chocolatier saw a way to turn it into a marketing opportunity and increase candy sales, thus starting the tradition of giving candy, history.com reports.

Valentine’s Day this year fell on the last day of National Marriage Week in the United States. The weeklong celebration includes World Marriage Day, which was marked Sunday. 

The 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. The theme of this year’s weeklong celebration was “Called to the Joy of Love.”