St. Valentine, the Real Story

Flowers, candy, red hearts and romance.
That's what Valentine's day is all about,
right? Well, maybe not.
The origin of this holiday for the expression of
love really isn't romantic at all -- at least not
in the traditional sense. Father Frank O'Gara
of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland,
tells the real story of the man behind the
holiday -- St. Valentine.
"He was a Roman Priest at a time when there
was an emperor called Claudias who
persecuted the church at that particular time,"
Father O'Gara explains. " He also 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."
"I think we must bear in mind that it was a
very permissive society in which Valentine
lived," says Father O'Gara. "Polygamy would
have been much more popular than just one
woman and one man living together. And yet
some of them seemed to be attracted to
Christian faith. 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.
"One of the men who was to judge him in line
with the Roman law at the time was a man
called Asterius, whose daughter was blind. He
was supposed to have prayed with and healed
the young girl with such astonishing effect
that Asterius himself became Christian as a
result."
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."
"What Valentine means to me as a priest,"
explains Father O'Gara, "is that there comes a
time where you have to lay your life upon the
line for what you believe. And with the power
of the Holy Spirit we can do that -- even to
the point of death."
Valentine's martyrdom has not gone
unnoticed by the general public. In fact,
Whitefriars Street Church is one of three
churches that claim to house the remains of
Valentine. Today, many people make the
pilgrimage to the church to honor the courage
and memory of this Christian saint.
"Valentine has come to be known as the
patron saint of lovers. Before you enter into a
Christian marriage you want some sense of
God in your life -- some great need of God in
your life. And we know, particularly in the
modern world, many people are meeting God
through his Son, Jesus Christ."
"If Valentine were here today, he would say to
married couples that there comes a time
where you're going to have to suffer. It's not
going to be easy to maintain your
commitment and your vows in marriage. Don't
be surprised if the 'gushing' love that you
have for someone changes to something less
"gushing" but maybe much more mature. And
the question is, is that young person ready for
that?"
"So on the day of the marriage they have to
take that into context," Father O'Gara says.
"Love -- human love and sexuality is
wonderful, and blessed by God -- but also the
shadow of the cross. That's what Valentine
means to me."