St. Valentine
A Martyred Saint
St. Valentine was martyred in the late 200s within the Roman Empire.
There is not much known about St. Valentine, but there is enough to get a glimpse of a soul set on fire for Jesus Christ.
One story is that St. Valentine was under house arrest and spoke with the judge. In the conversation, Valentine declared Jesus his Lord and Savior. Then, the judge decided to challenge Valentine by presenting his blind daughter before him to see if Valentine, with the help of Jesus, could restore the judge’s daughter's sight.
Valentine placed his hands on the daughter’s eyes and her sight was restored. The judge then destroyed all the idols in his house, became baptized shortly after, and his whole household converted to Christianity.
Not long after, Valentine was arrested again for proclaiming Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Not only this, but some stories share that Valentine was helping young Christian couples with marriage so that the men would not have to go to war. Other accounts state that Valentine was assisting young couples to have a Christian marriage against the emperor’s demands to stop Christian marriages.
Valentine was taken to Rome, where he tried to convert Emperor Claudius. Enraged with Valentine, the emperor demanded that he renounce his faith or die. Valentine did not renounce Jesus as his Lord and Savior and was then martyred.
St. Valentine was likely martyred on February 14th.
Although the history of Valentine’s Day is blurred, and many theories of origin spiral together, we should acknowledge that St. Valentine is a saint and a martyr.
St. Valentine was in love with Jesus and respected authentic Christian marriage.
Fr. Luke Daghir
