The Life of St. Valentine
—Chrissie

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            The modern Valentine’s Day can be seen as a romantic celebration of love or as a manufactured holiday intended to sell flowers, cards, and chocolate. However you might feel about Valentine’s Day, it’s unlikely that you’ll celebrate by attending Mass at your local Catholic Church. Like St. Patrick’s Day, St. Valentines’ Day has an origin in Catholic feast days, in this case it is the celebration of a Christian martyr in the early years of the faith, Valentine of Rome. The feast is also associated with another man named Valentine, this one of Terni, who may be the same man.

            The most common story is that Valentine was a priest, possibly the Bishop of Terni, who was martyred in the reign of Roman Emperor Claudius II Gothicus between 269 and 272. When he was arrested for evangelizing and for performing Christian marriages in and around Rome, Valentine was held in the home of a judge named Asterius. There, Valentine spoke of his faith, but Asterius was not convinced of the validity of Christianity until Valentine had healed his daughter of blindness. He is said to have spent the next three days fasting and praying and when he was baptized by Valentine, his entire household also converted and were baptized. The judge then released all of the Christian prisoners in the local jail.

            Valentine continued to preach and was again arrested. This time he was brought before the Emperor and took the opportunity to try to turn the man’s heart to Christ. He was unsuccessful. Claudius II Gothicus demanded that he immediately recant his faith or be executed. Valentine refused to deny Christ, and so was beheaded and buried along the Via Flaminia. Before his execution, he is said to have sent a letter to the young woman whose sight he had healed, signed “from your Valentine.” It was quite a different sentiment than one might see such a signature attached to today.

            Valentine was immediately celebrated as a martyr in the Christian community. A church dedicated to him was built by Pope Julius I.  He was added to the Roman Catholic calendar by Pope Gelasius I in 496, who placed his feast on 14 February, the day he was said to have been executed.

            The association with love and romance does not begin until the Middle Ages. Some historians have suggested that the Feast of St. Valentine was associated with love in order to override the Roman Feast of the Lupercalia, a fertility festival marking the coming end of winter. This is unlikely as the first documented connection comes from Geoffrey Chaucer. The idea of a patron saint of love fits well into the culture and literature of the era which celebrated courtly love.

            There are relics attributed to St. Valentine scattered throughout Europe, though as with most relics of the era, it is impossible to know whether they truly come from St. Valentine. The most striking of them is a skull said to be his kept in a shrine at the Church of Santa Maria in Rome.

In Roman Catholic practice, St. Valentine is not only the patron saint of love but also of beekeepers. So, if you need a last-minute gift for your loved one, allow us to suggest beeswax candles and maybe trade the chocolates for honey candy.