Saint Valentine- A Reason to Celebrate

[happyrain]

Saint Valentine was a man that died from the hands of people he served for refusing to renounce his Faith. If there's something to reflect on for Valentines day it could be for the Love this Saint gave to his fellow man, including his oppressors and the strength of his Faith. What might cause one to live a life of service, Love or birth an unbreakable belief? Perhaps this man had an Understanding of God that words could never satisfy, something so moving or revealing that he would die for. This a nice reprieve from the commercial aspect this holiday has turned into. No doubt you do not need a history lesson to Love but if anyone out there wanted a history of the actual holiday, I hope you enjoy this. Let your thoughts toward Saint Valentine be another reason to celebrate and share, something every human being cherishes...

Biography

Saint Valentine was a Catholic priest who had also worked as a doctor. He lived in Italy during the third century AD and served as a priest in Rome.

Historians don’t know much about Valentine’s early life. They pick up Valentine’s story after he began working as a priest. Valentine became famous for marrying couples who were in love but couldn’t get legally married in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II, who outlawed weddings. Claudius wanted to recruit lots of men to be soldiers in his army and thought that marriage would be an obstacle to recruiting new soldiers. He also wanted to prevent his existing soldiers from getting married because he thought that marriage would distract them from their work.

When Emperor Claudius discovered that Valentine was performing weddings, he sent Valentine to jail. Valentine used his time in jail to continue to reach out to people with the love that he said Jesus Christ gave him for others.

He befriended his jailer, Asterious, who became so impressed with Valentine’s wisdom that he asked Valentine to help his daughter, Julia, with her lessons. Julia was blind and needed someone to read material for her to learn it. Valentine became friends with Julia through his work with her when she came to visit him in jail.

Emperor Claudius also came to like Valentine. He offered to pardon Valentine and set him free if Valentine would renounce his Christian faith and agree to worship the Roman gods. Not only did Valentine refuse to leave his faith, he also encouraged Emperor Claudius to place his trust in Christ. Valentine’s faithful choices cost him his life. Emperor Claudius was so enraged at Valentine’s response that he sentenced Valentine to die.

https://www.thoughtco.com/st-valentine- ... ove-124544

[Sandy]

Thank you for sharing that, Eric. I had never heard this loving saint's story before. That's a shame too because it is inspiring and brings a whole new important dimension to February 14, Saint Valentine's Day.

Let your thoughts toward Saint Valentine be another reason to celebrate and share, something every human being cherishes...

will do.
Love,
Sandy