The Wisdom of Saints: St Valentine of Terni

The Feast of Valentine, Bishop and Martyr, 269

O GOD, who didst bestow upon thy Saints such marvellous virtue, that they were able to stand fast, and have the victory against the world, the flesh, and the devil: Grant that we, who now commemorate thy Martyr Valentine, may ever rejoice in their fellowship, and also be enabled by thy grace to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold upon eternal life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

For many, St Valentine’s Day is nothing more than a Hallmark holiday, a holiday popularised by various corporations in order to sell greeting cards and candy. Yet the reality is that St Valentine’s Day finds its origins in the commemoration of the 3rd century Christian martyr St Valentine of Terni.

It should be noted that there are actually, in the Roman Catholic tradition, a number of saints named Valentine (Valentinus in the Latinized form) whose deaths are commemorated on 14 February. For two of the three, however, relatively little is known about them. The final St Valentine is understood to the one recognized by Pope Saint Gelasius I in 496 for veneration on the 14th. Of this St Valentine, some details still remain about his life and particularly the circumstances of his martyrdom. While more was believed to have been recorded at certain times, the complete records of St Valentine’s life were believed to have been destroyed during the Diocletian Persecution in the early 4th century.

The details of St Valentine’s early life are not known, however by the reign of Emperor Claudius II from 268 - 270, he had become the bishop of Terni in central Italy. When Claudius II initiated a religious persecution against Christians, St Valentine became a target. Also important to the story was an edict promulgated by the Emperor, who was a Roman general prior to becoming Emperor and is mostly remembered for his military victories against the Goths, which prohibited young people from marrying under the belief that unmarried men make better soldiers because they would not worry about their wife and family back home.

St Valentine defied this edict, and entered couples into the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. More than this, when Claudius initiated his persecution, Christians were arrested for maintaining their belief in Christ in contravention of the Emperor’s declaration that all citizens were to worship the Roman gods. Ultimately, St Valentine was caught, imprisoned and tortured before being sentenced to death in 269 AD.

St Valentine’s story continues with his jailor Asterius. While he was imprisoned, his jailer, seeing that St Valentine was an educated man, asked him to tutor his blind daughter Julia. St Valentine agreed, and over the course of tutoring her, the subject of religion was raised. As the story goes, St Valentine taught her that God hears our prayers, to which Julia described how she prayed to the Roman gods for her sight but they never heard her. St Valentine then laid hands on her and prayed over her sight. Her sight was miraculously healed, and Julia and her father Asterius came to faith through the miracle. In some accounts Asterius has his entire household baptised.

St Valentine continued a correspondence with Julia, and his last note, which urged her to remain close to God, was signed, “your Valentine,” which some link to the modern practice of sending valentines.

While St Valentine’s Day is more today associated with love, it is clear that the true message of this martyr is that of perseverance in faith in the face of persecution. That is not to say that his message concerning Matrimony is inconsequential. It’s clear that there is a similar message of the need to endure suffering and strife with God’s help in order to successfully enter into Holy Matrimony. In addition to being the patron saint of love, he is the patron saint of engaged couples and happy marriages.

When thinking of St Valentine’s Day, it should not be a day for chocolates, flowers and romance. It should be a day in which we remember his courage and perseverance in Christ, and how such attributes are essential in maintaining a healthy human relationship. No amount of commercial advertising should be able to convince us that a marriage can be fuelled by greeting cards, chocolates or flowers; rather marriage is fuelled by love, and there is only sufficient love for a permanent marriage when that love is drawn not from within the husband and wife, but from God, who renews and maintains the marriage each moment of each day.