Be my Valentine?

What is Saint Valentine’s Day?

Is Valentine’s Day another Hallmark holiday, or just another retailer’s way to make money or is there really something important to this day?

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
Another legend is Valentine actually sent the first ‘valentine’ greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailor’s daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed ‘From your Valentine,’ an expression that is still in use today.
While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D.

This holiday is more known more about sacrifice than love, but then who says love isn’t a sacrifice after all.

Inevitably always remember to love someone 365 days a year, not just on a particular day called Saint Valentine’s Day, show your love when least expected, not when society tells us too.

Daya

Posted on February 15, 2010