The Dark History of Valentine’s Day

Flowers, candy, red hearts and romance. That’s what Valentine’s day is all about, right? Well, maybe not. The dark history of Valentines Day and the story of its patron saints are covered in mystery. The Catholic Church of the Roman emperor recognizes different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

Story 1

The first story of Valentines Day begins in the third century with Claudius II a cruel Roman emperor and Valentinus which was a humble christian martyr.

Claudius ordered all Romans to worship twelve gods, and had made it a crime punishable by death to associate with Christians. But Valentinus was dedicated to the ideals of Christ; not even the threat of death could keep him from practicing his beliefs. He was arrested and imprisoned. During the last weeks of Valentinus’s life a remarkable thing happened. Seeing that he was a man of learning, the jailer asked whether his daughter, Julia, might be brought to Valentinus for lessons. She had been blind since birth. Julia was a pretty young girl with a quick mind. Valentinus read stories of Rome’s history to her. He described the world of nature to her. He taught her arithmetic and told her about God. She saw the world through his eyes, trusted his wisdom, and found comfort in his quiet strength.

“Valentinus, does God really hear our prayers?” Julia asked one day. “Yes, my child, He hears each one.” “Do you know what I pray for every morning and every night? I pray that I might see. I want so much to see everything you’ve told me about!” “God does what is best for us if we will only believe in Him,” Valentinus said. “Oh, Valentinus, I do believe! I do!” She knelt and grasped his hand.

They sat quietly together, each praying.
Suddenly there was a brilliant light in the prison cell. Radiant, Julia screamed, “Valentinus, I can see! I can see!” “Praise be to God!” Valentinus exclaimed, and he knelt in prayer.

On the eve of his death Valentinus wrote a last note to Julia, urging her to stay close to God. He signed it, “From your Valentine.” His sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 A.D., near a gate that was later named Porta Valentini in his memory. He was buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome. It is said that Julia planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship.

Story 2

Valentine who was a Roman priest at the time when there was a Roman emperor called Claudius. Claudius had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this.The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict.

Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine’s actions while in prison.

In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius’ daughter. He inspired today’s romantic missives by signing it, “from your Valentine.” And it is believed that from that day Valentines Day was started and celebrated between 7th to 14th February in the remembrance and as a contribution to Valentine.