WHO WAS Saint Valentine?

The legends and traditions of the love we celebrate on February 14

- MEG BELVISO

EVERYONE KNOWS his name, but most people don’t know how this third-century priest came to be associated with candy hearts, chocolate and cheerful cards covered in glitter.

There are about a dozen saints with the name Valentine on the official Catholic roster. One was a Spanish bishop who served in Vietnam, another a martyr in Africa. There was even a Pope Valentine who reigned for two months in 827.

Our Saint Valentine, the one the holiday is named for, was a Roman priest who lived in the third century A.D. Rome at that time was ruled by the Emperor Claudius II, also known as Claudius Gothicus. Feared for his fierceness on the battlefield, he was called Claudius the Cruel, and he was no friend to Christians.