By Ian Wilson
What is known about St. Valentine is scant and open to conjecture, shrouded in legend. It is difficult to separate fact from fable, to the point that in 1969, the Roman Catholic Church removed Valentine from their official calendar due to lack of evidence for his existence.
Valentine may not even have been one, singular person, but rather two or even three men all named Valentine, who may have lived sometime in the late second century, during the reign of Emperor Claudius II Gothicus. Some believe he was Bishop of Terni who was martyred in Rome for preaching the Gospel.
Others believe that he was a priest who performed marriages in secret due to the emperor’s edict outlawing marriage among young men. Emperor Claudius believed that men would fight more fiercely without a wife or children to worry about, and so restricted the rite of marriage. According to this legend, the Emperor arrested Valentine for disobeying the law and imprisoned him. From prison, knowing his martyrdom was near, Valentine wrote letters to all his friends asking them to “remember your Valentine” and thus the tradition of giving cards and letters was born. However, this legend first appeared many centuries after Valentine’s death, and is therefore in dispute.
Another legend tells of how while in prison, Valentine restored the sight of the jailer’s blind daughter, whom he had befriended. Prior to his martyrdom, Valentine wrote a letter to the girl, signing it, “your Valentine”.
Whatever the truth may be, only God knows. Let us therefore do good works for those we love in secret, for the Lord who sees in secret.
LogoSophia Magazine 