19 days to Valentines Day. So what is the big deal about Valentines Day? Who was St Valentine and why is February 14 so significant? A search of Wikipedia reveals that the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints lists February 14 as the feast day of Valentine and that the date recognises when Valentine was buried in Rome. The Catholic Encyclopedia lists three Valentines and because there is little known about any of them, they are all ascribed to the same feast day. Valentine of Rome was martyred about AD 269 and was buried in Rome on February 14. There is no official information recorded in Roman Catholic documents about why or how he died, but his personal relics can be found in Rome and also in a Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland. Valentine of Terni which is just north of Rome, was martyred in AD197. Wikipedia says he died during persecution by Roman Emporer Aurelian but Aurelian is supposed to have ruled from AD 270 to275 so I am not sure about that one. Both of these Valentines are buried in separate locations on the Via Flaminia, just north of Rome. A third Valentine was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him. In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church decided to remove St Valentines feast day from the Roman Catholic Calendar because there was so little known about him (or them). The only known fact was that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14. However, St Valentine’s feast day is still celebrated by traditional Catholics who follow the older pre-Vatican II calendar.
How about celebrating St Valentines Feast Day – February 14 – by giving someone you care about a special gift? I would recommend Gifts For Your Valentine. Click here to check out some of the gifts that you may want to give to someone special this Valentines Day.
