Today in the 21st century, society has largely forgotten the real reason for Christmas in favor of the jolly old elf who lives at the north pole and has flying reindeer. I get it. He’s fun. Magical. Interestingly enough, however, there was a real St. Nicholas. He was a third century bishop in what is today, officially, the Republic of Türkiye.
Similarly, today is Valentine’s Day, and although men may think that this holiday was invented by Hallmark cards and Russell Stover candy, there actually was a real St. Valentine as well. Valentinus was a priest and physician who, like Nicholas, lived in the third century, however Valentinus lived near Umbria, in central Italy.
At the time, Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ruled. He had followed the infamous Caligula. Like many emperors, Claudius was having difficulty holding on to such a vast empire. One challenge had to do with readiness. You see, the army was only assembled for individual wars and was dissolved as soon as the war was over. Under Augustus, the emperor in Jesus’ day, the Roman Army was transformed into a standing army that was mostly stationed at the borders of the Empire.
Professional soldiers now had to be prepared to be relocated (deployed) to distant destinations. This would be severely hindered if there were wives and children to consider. In addition, if soldiers married local women, they might have contrasting loyalties now between their family and the empire. Furthermore, Claudius’ responsibility of caring for the widows and orphans of fallen soldiers disappeared if soldiers could not have wives or families. As a result, Claudius came to the conclusion that single men made better soldiers and he banned soldiers from being married.
Legend has it that Father Valentine continued to perform weddings in secret for young soldiers. When Claudius discovered this, he threw Valentine into prison. While there, Valentine continued to reach out to people with the love that he said Jesus Christ gave him for others. He also befriended his jailer, Asterious, who became so impressed with Valentine’s wisdom that he asked Valentine to help his daughter, Julia, with her lessons. Julia was blind and needed someone to read material for her to learn it. Valentine became friends with Julia through his work with her when she came to visit him in jail.
Emperor Claudius also eventually came around to Valentine and offered to pardon him if he would renounce his Christian faith and worship Roman gods. Valentine not only refused but encouraged Emperor Claudius to place his trust in Christ. The emperor was so infuriated he sentenced Valentine to death.
Before he was killed, Valentine wrote a note to encourage Julia to stay close to Jesus and to thank her for being his friend. He signed the note: “From your Valentine.”
And so, it began. The Church’s Feast Day for St. Valentine is February 14, and every year on that date we are encouraged to tell people we love them. The apostle John put it this way, “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).
Happy Valentine’s Day my friends. Oh, and happy birthday to my brother George and happy anniversary to my dad and stepmom.
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