St. Valentine lived long time ago in Rome during the third century. At that time, Rome was ruled by Emperor Claudius. Valentine didn’t like Emperor Claudius, and he wasn’t the only one! A lot of people shared his feelings. Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in thoughtless wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families alone. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. Valentine thought it was preposterous! He certainly wasn’t going to support that law! Did I mention that he was a priest? One of his favorite activities was to marry off couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, he kept on performing marriage ceremonies secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and himself. They would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers. One night, he did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple he was marrying escaped in time. Valentine was caught. I guess. He was thrown in jail and told that his punishment was a death sentence. The saint tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit him. They threw flowers and notes up to his window. They wanted to let him know that they, too, believed in love. One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit him in the cell. Sometimes they would sit and talk for hours. She helped to keep his spirits up. She agreed that Valentine did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secretive marriages. On the day he was to be hanged, Valentine left his friend with a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. He signed it, “Love from your Valentine.” I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day he died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh because they know that love can’t be beaten! People celebrate Valentine’s Day anyway. Ends
