On February 14, the calendar commemorates St. Valentine. Among several saints named Valentine, it was the 14th of February that joined the Valentine’s Day and their custom of exchanging tickets and gifts.
Valentine’s Day
In Brazil, June 12th is Valentine’s Day and, as with St. Valentine, is the feast of those who love each other. Valentine’s Day is linked to the tradition that gives St. Anthony the reputation of being a matchmaker. That is why it is celebrated that day, the eve of St. Anthony.
Questions about Valentine
On February 14, the calendar commemorates St. Valentine. Among several saints named Valentine, it was the 14th of February that joined the Valentine’s Day and their custom of exchanging tickets and gifts. In Brazil is celebrated on June 12.
1 Who was St. Valentine?
2 What is the origin of this Valentine’s party?
Who was St. Valentine?
In 268, a priest named Valentine lived in Rome. Emperor Claudius II made him arrest for being a Christian and questioned him because he had great fame in the city. Here is the traditional narrative collected by the Little Bollandists :
Valentine tried to get the emperor to recognize Christ and is said to have disturbed him. But among his advisers, Calpurnius, Mayor of the city, intervened to say that the new faith endangered Roman traditions; Claudio, fearing disturbances in the city, handed St. Valentine to the Mayor. He sent it to Judge Astério, who questioned him.
St. Valentine prayed before the judge and the guards, asking God to enlighten them, making them know Jesus Christ, the true light of the world.
Asterius said: “I greatly admire your prudence; nevertheless how can you say that Jesus Christ is the true light? ”
St. Valentine replied:“ It is not only the true light nevertheless the only light that illumines every men in this world (cf. prologue to the Gospel of St. John, chap. 1, verses 4, 5 and 9).
Aserio said: “Let’s take the test: I have here an adopted daughter who has been blind for two years; if you can heal it, I will believe that Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
They brought the girl. St. Valentine put his hands on her eyes and said this prayer:
“Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true light, enlighten your handmaid.”
Immediately the girl regained her sight. Asterius and his converts. But the emperor had them persecuted as Christians and were sentenced to death with St. Valentine.
After being detained in a prison where he was beaten and wounded in the club, he was beheaded on Via Flaminia on February 14, 268. The site of his martyrdom had been preserved with a church that Pope John I had later built; it was in ruins when Pope Theodosius raised it. Then it disappeared completely. On the walls of Rome, the door that is now called the People’s Gate was formerly called the Gate of St. Valentine.
Some relics of St. Valentine are kept in Rome in the church of St. Praxedes nevertheless those that had been taken to France to the church of St. Peter in Melun disappeared.
St. Valentine is named after the illustrious martyr in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, in the Roman Missal of Tommasi, in several martyrologies and ancient calendars. The English keep it on their calendar.
