St. Valentine
Feast 02-14
Patron of
About
Valentine was a priest or bishop in Rome in the third century, martyred during the persecution of the emperor Claudius II around 269. According to tradition, he ministered to persecuted Christians and performed marriages for soldiers who were forbidden to wed, and he is said to have healed the blind daughter of his jailer, leaving her a farewell note signed "Your Valentine."
He was beaten and beheaded on the Via Flaminia on February 14, and a basilica was later built over his tomb. Another martyr named Valentine, bishop of Terni, shares the same feast day, and the two accounts may have merged over time.
By the Middle Ages, his feast had become associated with courtly love, and he is now celebrated worldwide as the patron of lovers, engaged couples, and happy marriages.
Suggested prayer
O God, who gave Valentine the charity to marry soldiers forbidden to wed and to heal the blind daughter of his jailer, grant through his intercession that engaged couples may love with patience, kindness, and endurance. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
