A little history

St. Valentine's Story

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. 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. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I 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 myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to 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 me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I 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 I 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!

This blows my mind....Britney Spears and high school friend Jason Allen Alexander, Married 2 days; Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra, 9 days; Gregg Allman and Cher, 9 days; Rudolph Valentino and Jean Acker, 6 hours; Robert Evans and Catherine Oxenberg, 12 days; Jeremy Thomas and Drew Barrymore, 29 days; Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine, 38 days; Janet Jackson and James DeBarge, 4 months.


These are the lengths of only a few short-lived celebrity marriages. It seems these days celebrities are swapping husbands and wives like handbags. At first glance it may seem like a stretch to use celebrity public relation stunts as an example of the lack of respect for the sanctity of marriage, but these are the individuals children idolize. The length of marriage is rarely a hot topic. What happened to the sanctity of marriage. Something St Valentine was willing to die for. People now treat it as if it's just something that if it doesn't work out or you decide it's not for you then just walk away.


Sanctity is defined as holiness or sacredness. This has historically pertained to the fact that marriage is considered a holy union before the eyes of God or a divine being.


In 2005 there were 2.30 million marriages, down from 2.70 million marriages in 2004, despite a 2.9 million population increase. This number continues to decline as more people are divorcing and simply choosing not to get married in the first place.

I, for one, believe that marriage is an institution that needs to be protected. I believe for both religious and psychological reasons that families need to be protected by marriage. Children are able to develop better in a stable home than in one where they do not know which adults will be in the home that year, month, or week. Adults also need the stabilization. In this time of deviance, marriage needs to be treated with reverence and respect. In general it means treating a marriage as the foundation of your family, honoring your marriage vows with all your "heart and soul" and proceeding as if divorce is NOT an option. therefore, a partner just can't leave their husband/wife for another partner because they choose too..it would have to be a good reasoning as if the husband/wife passed away!


I guess this was on my mind after 4 couples I know personally just decided they didn't want to be married anymore and then I read the history of Valentine's day and so thus my little rant above *LOL*