St. Valentine's Story
Let me introduce myself.
My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was
long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius.
I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people
shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have
a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not
want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families.
As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious.
So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not
married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not
to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel.
I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that
law!
Did I mention that I was
a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after
Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies
-- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit
room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words
of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.
One night, we did hear
footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped
in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be,
I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.
I tried to stay cheerful.
And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came
to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window.
They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.
One of these young people
was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me
in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to
keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the
Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to
die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and
loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."
I believe that note started
the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written
on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people
remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And
when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand
in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't
be beaten! |