Saint Valentine

St. Valentine died on February 14 in 269 AD and is the patron saint of those in love.  How did his feast day, February 14, become the special day to send cards, flowers, candy and similar gifts to those we love?

The tradition is that Valentine was a priest who lived in Rome when Claudius II was the Roman Emperor.  Claudius persecuted Christians.  He was of the opinion that unmarried men made better soldiers than married men.  He thought that married men held back in battle because of their wives and families.  So he put out an edict that young people could not marry.  Because the Catholic Church held marriage to be a sacred thing, this edict was totally unacceptable to Christians.  Valentine courageously encouraged Christian young people to marry and he secretly married many of them.  He eventually was caught and was beheaded for his disobedience to the Emperor.

This story about St. Valentine and his support of Christian marriage resulted in his being adopted as the patron saint of those in love.  Our culture has very much secularized his feast and made it more a marketing tool to sell goods and make money.  But behind it all is the fact that a saint gave his life promoting Christian marriage.  Let’s all join in praying for great blessings on all married couples and those searching for love as we celebrate Valentine’s Day.

We will continue to pray every day for all of your prayer requests.  May our loving God answer them in His own way and His own time.  Thank you for all the support you give us Franciscans and our ministries.

 Fr. John Bok, OFM