If my writing is a little off, understand that this would be my wedding anniversary. I was, apparently, in such a state of shock, that it didn't impact me so much last year. This year, it has been very hard.
Today is the feast of Saint Valentine, which lived somewhere around the year 270. He was martyred by Emperor Claudius II.
Image retrieved from https://greekreporter.com/2024/02/14/valentines-day-greek-saint-valentine/ and used as being in there public domain.
We don't know much about his life with any certainty, so everything we know about him is either extrapolated from other sources or passed down as verbal tradition.
What we do know was that he was a priest who loved in Rome during the reign of Claudius II. Seeing that many men were choosing not to join his army, he decided that it must be because of marriage and he outlawed . Saint Valentine would clandestinely perform marriage ceremonies.
Saint Valentine was arrested to performing marriage ceremonies in secret and thrown into prison. While in jail, his jailer's daughter went blind. Saint Valentine restored her sight. The jailer and his entire household, a total of 46 people, were converted to - remember, we were not called Catholic until the reformation - and that infuriated Claudius because Christianity was outlawed at that time. Claudius ordered the execution of Saint Valentine.
Saint Valentine was beheaded on February 14. He left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter which he signed "From Your Valentine".
St. Valentine is the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, and young people.
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Websites I regularly mention in my broadcast include:
Morning Offering (www.mortningoffering.com) and Catholic Online (www.catholic.org). Franciscan Media (Franciscanmedia.org) is another site that I peruse regularly.
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