Saint Valentine

Valentine’s Day means a lot of things to a lot of people, but how many know the Church’s story about her own saint?  Here’s just a little bit of the tradition about Saint Valentine the martyr.

A physician and priest living in Rome during the rule of Emperor Claudius, Valentine became one of the noted martyrs of the third century. The commemoration of his death, which occurred in AD 270, became part of the calendar of remembrance in the Early Church of the West. Tradition suggests that on the day of his execution for his Christian faith, Valentine left a note of encouragement for a child of his jailer written on an irregularly shaped piece of paper. This greeting became a pattern for millions of written expressions of love and caring that now are the highlight of Valentine’s Day in many nations. (explanation taken from the Treasury of Daily Prayer, published by Concordia Publishing House)

Below is a traditional Christian icon representing Saint Valentine receiving the crown of life for his faithful confession of Jesus before the world.

(Image taken from http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/images/aa-StValentine.jpg)