The story of Saint Valentine
All about the 3rd century Bishop who was imprisoned, befriended an Emperor, and lost his head for love
There are lots of exciting activities that children can make and display in classrooms in the run-up to Valentine’s Day. Before setting about creating Valentine’s Day crafts they will enjoy learning about the legends associated with Saint Valentine. The story below is taken from several different accounts.
Historians have noted that Pope Galasius declared the first official Saint Valentine’s Day on 14th February, 496 years after the death of Christ. By this date there had been three Saint Valentines. Not much is known about the first two saints, so it is thought that the third saint – a brave young Bishop from Rome – is the man who Pope Galasius was honouring.
Valentine lived in the time of Claudius II, who was Roman Emperor around 270 years after the death of Christ.
Claudius, a military man, was understandably keen that his army should run as efficiently as possible. With this in mind, he formed the view that married men did not make good soldiers as they suffered from too many distractions. He therefore banned younger soldiers from marrying.
Illegal weddings
His plans were disrupted when it emerged that a young priest – Valentine – was secretly conducting marriage ceremonies so that young soldiers could wed the women they loved. It is thought that Bishop Valentine conducted these ceremonies because he believed that God wanted young soldiers to marry.
The soldiers – who, according to a profile of Saint Valentine on the BBC website, were sometimes as young as 12 - were probably just keen to get married before going into battles they were not certain to return from.
The image of Valentine secretly marrying couples reinforces the image of him as a Christian version of Cupid – the bow and arrow-carrying Roman God who acted as a matchmaker in several myths and legends. Cupid has become a much-loved symbol of Valentine’s Day.
[A stained glass window depicting Saint Valentine (on the left) and Saint Dorothea. Picture by Steve Day]
Valentine in prison
Emperor Claudius clearly did not love Valentine’s attempts to play Cupid at illegal wedding ceremonies and had the Bishop arrested. Despite this, Claudius is said to have taken a liking to his prisoner and met him on several occasions. The relationship soured, though, when Valentine, unwisely, tried to convert Claudius to Christianity.
While in prison, Valentine is said to have fallen in love with the jailer’s daughter – a blind woman whose sight he miraculously restored. Legend has it that he passed her a note underneath his prison cell door which read ‘from your Valentine’: it is nice to think that this may be the earliest ever Valentine’s card.
This was the last letter that Valentine would ever send as he was beheaded the next morning. In a way you could say that he lost his head for love; but this 3rd century Cupid did at least start a tradition which has resulted in over one billion people sending messages of affection to each other every year.
And that can’t be a bad thing!
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/saints/valentine.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7888539.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudius_Gothicus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid
