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St Valentine<br />
February 14 is a day for<br />
lovers – when cards and<br />
chocolates arrive from<br />
mystery senders and the<br />
price of red roses soars in<br />
our fl orists.<br />
But what’s the history of St<br />
Valentine – the man who gives his<br />
name to this special day?<br />
St Valentine is known to be<br />
a real person who died<br />
around AD 270 but the<br />
truth about his life<br />
and identity is a bit of<br />
a mystery. There are<br />
various myths and<br />
legends about the<br />
man and why he is<br />
celebrated.<br />
In one account,<br />
Valentine is described as a<br />
temple priest who was beheaded<br />
near Rome by the emperor<br />
Claudius II for helping Christian<br />
couples to wed. Another account<br />
says that he was the Bishop of<br />
Terni, also martyred by Claudius II<br />
on the outskirts of Rome.<br />
Because of the similarities<br />
in these, they could be the<br />
same person – a man who was<br />
beheaded for performing Christian<br />
weddings despite Claudius II<br />
banning young Roman men from<br />
being married. Claudius felt that<br />
single men made better soldiers as<br />
they would be more willing to die.<br />
St Valentine was also found<br />
guilty of ministering to Christians<br />
– persecuted under the Roman<br />
Empire.<br />
As well as this St Valentine,<br />
there were many others with<br />
the same name – all killed<br />
for their faith. The name<br />
was popular up until the<br />
eighth century AD and<br />
means strong, worthy<br />
or powerful. The one<br />
we now celebrate on<br />
February 14 is officially<br />
known as St Valentine of<br />
Rome.<br />
In the fifth century Pope<br />
Gelasius declared February 14 as<br />
St Valentine’s Day, although it was<br />
not until the 14th century that the<br />
day became associated with love.<br />
Whatever the true story is, this<br />
man is celebrated for the way he<br />
shared God’s love with others and<br />
was willing to die for doing so.<br />
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Page 24<br />
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website: www.stchads.org
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