Love is Always Welcome

Love comes in various shapes and forms

- Sujatha Rao

February is deemed to be the month of love thanks to the celebration of Valentine’s Day across the world on February 14th. The Feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496 to be celebrated on February 14 in honour of Saint Valentine of Rome, who died on that date in AD 269.

However, the Cathol ic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine, all of whom were martyred.

According to one legend, Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II felt that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Realizing the injustice of the decree, Valentine defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. On learning about this, Claudius ordered that Valentine be put to death.

Another legend insists that it was Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop, who was the true namesake of the holiday. He, too, was beheaded by Claudius II.

Yet another story suggests that Valentine may have been killed as he helped Christians escape harsh Roman prisons. It further goes on to say that an imprisoned Valentine sent the first ‘valentine’ greeting himself, after he fell in love with a young girl, who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an xpression that is still in use today.

Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky and inconclusive, all the stories highlight Valentine’s appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and romantic figure.