I do really appreciate the origins of Valentine’s Day. I feel that the story behind Valentine’s Day is easily lost, and there is a rich history to this day on which we take to celebrate love.
Valentine’s Day began because of Saint Valentine, a Christian martyr, who died on the 14th of February, in the year 270 AD. Valentine was a brave and courageous man. He aided Christians, and married Christian couples. At this time in Rome, with Claudius Gothicus as emperor, it was considered a crime to aid Christians at all. He was captured for this ‘crime’, as well as His faith in Christ and imprisoned.
While in prison, he did not lose His faith in Jesus. Seeing that he was a man of learning, the jailer asked whether his daughter, Julia, might be brought to Valentine for lessons. She had been blind since birth. Valentine did much to teach her, about the world and about God; she believed and was strengthened by his words.
She told him of her desire to see, and together they prayed that God would grant her sight. She was miraculously healed and her sight restored.
On the eve of his death Valentine wrote a last note to Julia, urging her to stay close to God. He signed it, “From your Valentine.” His death sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 A.D., near a gate that was later named Porta Valentini in his memory. He was buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome. Now, on each February 14, Saint Valentine’s Day, messages of affection, love, and devotion are exchanged all over the world.
That, is the traditional story of the origins of Valentine’s Day. I hope it blesses you like it does for me; it is so touching and a beautiful reminder of love for others and love for Jesus.
Happy Valentine’s Day!! ❤︎