St. Valentine
Who was St. Valentine?
Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine. One Valentine was a Roman priest and doctor who was persecuted by the emperor Claudius II for marrying Christian couples. Claudius took a liking to Valentine, but Valentine overstepped his bounds when he tried to convert the emperor, and Claudius sentenced him to death - and an ugly death at that. Lore suggests that he was beaten, stoned, and finally beheaded. martyred about AD 269 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. The flower crowned skull of St Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics are found in the Basilica of Santa Prassede,[16] also in Rome, as well as at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland. Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/14/saint-valentine-famed-romantic-and-religious-martyr/#ixzz2KnklfqE1
Did you know that Priests were allowed to marry years ago?
Some accounts state that this priest had fallen in love with the blind daughter of his jailer, and signed a letter that he wrote to her "from your Valentine." Another tale says that after his brutal death, he performed the miracle of restoring the sight of his jailer's daughter. Legend states that before his execution he wrote "from your Valentine" as a farewell to her. Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/14/saint-valentine-famed-romantic-and-religious-martyr/#ixzz2KnkxE3Gl
William Shakespeare and Valentines?
The earliest surviving valentines in English appear to be those in the Paston Letters, written in 1477 by Margery Brewes to her future husband John Paston "my right well-beloved Valentine".[45] Valentine's Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in Hamlet (1600-1601): To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine. Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes, And dupp'd the chamber-door; Let in the maid, that out a maid Never departed more. —William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5
Modern Day Valentine Poetry
The modern cliché Valentine's Day poem can be found in the collection of English nursery rhymes Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784): The rose is red, the violet's blue, The honey's sweet, and so are you. Thou art my love and I am thine; I drew thee to my Valentine: The lot was cast and then I drew, And Fortune said it shou'd be you.
Who celebrates Valentines Day?
Today, Saint Valentine's Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion,[7] as well as in the Lutheran Church.[8] The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine's Day, albeit on July 6th and July 30th, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni).[9][1
Medieval period and the English Renaissance's influence on Valentines Day
Using the language of the law courts for the rituals of courtly love, a "High Court of Love" was probably established by princess Isabel of Bavaria in Paris in 1400. It was founded on 6 January, the festivity of a Bavarian Saint Valentin, with The Charter of the Court of Love. The court dealt with love contracts, betrayals, and violence against women. Judges were selected by women on the basis of a poetry reading. It was probably based on the poems of Grandson, and not on the poems of Chaucer.[40] It is possible that the actual Court never existed and that it was all an invention of the princess. The earliest surviving valentine is a 15th-century rondeau written by Charles, Duke of Orléans to his wife, which commences.
What is a Martyr?
is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.
