Next Tuesday is Valentine’s Day, a day of love and romance for some and a day of wine and chocolate for others.
This holiday mostly benefits greeting card companies and stores that sell candy, chocolate or stuffed animals holding hearts with messages of love written across the front.
Although the card and candy companies make big bucks from Valentine sales, they did not create the tradition.
While there are a number theories about how this day of love came to be, the most popular story is that of a priest known as Valentine, his illegal activities and the price he paid.
It began way back during the rule of the Roman Empire when Claudius II was emperor. Rome was, at the time, doing its best to coquer all other lands.
But Claudius was having a hard time building his army because most of the men didn’t want to fight in wars and leave their wives and families behind. So the emperor came up with a plan. He banned marriage for young men so they would be more likely to join the Roman Army.
That’s where Valentine came in. He was a bishop and rebel who believed in love, and he continued to marry couples in secret.
A secret wedding might have been exciting and I suppose it would be considerably cheaper than having a big bash, but it was bound to come to a sad end.
Needless to say, Valentine got caught and the secret midnight weddings were brought to a halt.
Valentine was imprisoned and Claudius ordered that Valentine be put to death. During his imprisonment, however, he fell in love with a girl. According to some sources, the girl was the jailer’s blind daughter and his loving devotion cured her blindness.
At any rate, before his death on Feb. 14, 270 AD, he wrote her a letter and signed it “From your Valentine.”
Looks a familiar, right?
It was some time later that Valentine was named a saint.
This is only one of many versions of St. Valentine’s story and over the centuries, it’s probably become so mixed-up that we will never really know what happened, but that can be said for many stories.
What is important is that St. Valentine died a martyr for love and marriage, and while I respect him for that, I agree with the genius who once proclaimed anonymously, “Forget love, I’d rather fall in chocolate.”
However you choose to celebrate the day, tell someone you love them and enjoy!
