I know it's a day late, I had work for the past 2 days, but it's still Valentine's Day in other parts of the world and I'm still feeling the buzz simply because I didn't have time to super enjoy the moments on the day itself. An aunt of mine who loves me dearly and homeschools her kids shared a bit of St. Valentine history with me. I'm sure a lot of people have looked into the legend of Valentine's Day for the sake of it, but I'm not one of them so I was sweetly surprised by the story of a martyred Christian named Valentinus who truly lived (his remains are buried in a church) and a young , blind girl named Julia, the pretty young daughter of his jailer, Asterius. There are subtle, downplayed hints of Valentinus falling for Julia in the end but these remain in question given how young she might have truly been, in other accounts he was an old man and she was a child, but in this image as you can see, it may not have been that way. It was always stated in the different stories though regardless of how old she may have been that Julia was beautiful and bright (naks, lol).
It's a heartbreaking but touching story about a man who literally died to uphold love and the Christian faith. In other specific accounts, he was tortured terribly. I will quote the story here from a source and will not attempt to paraphrase. The story is quite intact across several sites even official Catholic history ones. Some aspects of the story vary with regard to her being healed of blindness either within the jail cell with Valentinus after they prayed or possibly after. There is supposed little embellishment to the core story. What is not mentioned here is the true historical reason behind his imprisonment, Valentinus would illegally marry young soldiers in secret. It was not legal because young soldiers were expected to remain single and focus on being warriors. However Valentinus officiated marriages for young couples in hiding. Too romantic for words. The phrase "Love is blind..." will never sound the same for me again So goes the tale of the first Valentine:
"The story of Valentine's Day begins in the third century with an oppressive Roman emperor and a humble Christian Martyr. The emperor was Claudius II. The Christian was Valentinus. Claudius had ordered all Romans to worship twelve gods, and had made it a crime punishable by death to associate with Christians. But Valentinus was dedicated to the ideals of Christ; not even the threat of death could keep him from practicing his beliefs. He was arrested and imprisoned. During the last weeks of Valentinus's life a remarkable thing happened. Seeing that he was a man of learning, the jailer asked whether his daughter, Julia, might be brought to Valentinus for lessons. She had been blind since birth. Julia was a pretty young girl with a quick mind. Valentinus read stories of Rome's history to her. He described the world of nature to her. He taught her arithmetic and told her about God. She saw the world through his eyes, trusted his wisdom, and found comfort in his quiet strength. "Valentinus, does God really hear our prayers?" Julia asked one day. "Yes, my child, He hears each one." "Do you know what I pray for every morning and every night? I pray that I might see. I want so much to see everything you've told me about!" "God does what is best for us if we will only believe in Him," Valentinus said. "Oh, Valentinus, I do believe! I do!" She knelt and grasped his hand.They sat quietly together, each praying. Suddenly there was a brilliant light in the prison cell. Radiant, Julia screamed, "Valentinus, I can see! I can see!" (in other accounts she was healed weeks later after opening his letter to her which contained a yellow crocus flower that she could slowly begin to see)
"Praise be to God!" Valentinus exclaimed, and he knelt in prayer. On the eve of his death Valentinus wrote a last note to Julia, urging her to stay close to God. He signed it, "From your Valentine." The next day Valentinus was killed. His sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 A.D., near a gate that was later named Porta Valentini in his memory. He was buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome.
It is said that Julia planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship. On each February 14, Saint Valentine's Day, messages of affection, love, and devotion are exchanged around the world."
Sources:
http://www.olrl.org/lives/valentine.shtml http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchandMinistry/churchhistory/st_valentine_the_real_story.aspx http://www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican/blog/index.php/happy-valentines-day-the-legend-of-saint-valentine
