St Valentine - the legend
What is the story of St. Valentine?
According to the story, St Valentine was a priest in 3rd Century Rome at the time
of the reign of Emperor Claudius II. Claudius was fighting many
unpopular and bloody campaigns. He was having
difficulty raising an army as Roman citizens were not willing
to risk their lives on the battlefield. He determined that
married men with children were less likely to volunteer than
single men without a family of their own. The best way to
increase the number of recruits, he decided, was to ban weddings.
What did St. Valentine do?
Priests were banned from performing wedding ceremonies and young couples
throughout Rome had no way of getting married. St. Valentine,
however, defied the ban and continued performing wedding ceremonies in secret.
Young couples heard of Valentine and approached him in secret to be married.
Innevitably, he was caught.
St. Valentines death
Valentine was brought before the Prefect of Rome who sentenced him to be beaten to
death with clubs before having his head cut off. While St. Valentine was in prison
awaiting his fate many young lovers visited him in thanks and respect for
what he had done, they threw flowers and notes up to his window.
St Valentine was also regularly visited by the daughter of
his prison guard, they became close friends. On the day of his
execution, February 14th 269A.D. he wrote her a letter and signed
it "Your Valentine".
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