Who is Saint Valentine ?

Many first Christian martyrs were named Valentine. Until 1969, the Catholic Church has officially recognized Valentine eleven days. The honor of Valentine's February 14 Valentine of Rome (Valentinus Presb. M. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae). Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who suffered martyrdom in 269 AD and was buried on the Via Flaminia. His relics are at the church of Saint Praxed in Rome. and the Carmelite Church Whitefriar Street in Dublin, Ireland.

Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and was killed during the persecution of Emperor Aurelian. He is buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a place other than Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino).

The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third name of Saint Valentine, who was mentioned earlier this year under martyrologies date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him. Some sources say the Valentine linked to romance is Valentine of Rome, others say Valentine of Terni. [Edit] Some researchers (such as Bollandists [citation needed]) have concluded that the two were originally from the same person.

No romantic elements are present in the early Middle biographies of one of these martyrs. At the time Valentine has become associated with romance in the fourteenth century, distinctions between Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were totally lost.

In 1969 the revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feast of Saint Valentine on February 14 has been removed from the Roman calendar general and relegated to particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason: " Although the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to timetables, because with the exception of his name, we know nothing of Valentine, but it was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14. "The festival is still celebrated in Balzan and Malta, where the relics of the saint are claimed to find, and also in the world by traditionalist Catholics who follow the older, pre-Vatican II calendar.

The Early Medieval acta either Valentine were extracted by Bede and briefly outlined in Legenda Aurea. According to this version, Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by the Roman emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, trying to convert to Roman paganism to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert to Christianity, instead of Claudius. For this reason, he was executed. Before his execution, he would have done a miracle of healing the blind daughter of his jailer.

Legenda Aurea still providing no connection with sentimental love whatsoever traditions was embroidered in modern times to portray Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to the Roman emperor Claudius II, would ordered that young men remain single. The emperor was expected to increase its military, arguing that married men are not good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found in this regard, he Valentine arrested and thrown in jail. In an embellishment to The Golden Legend, the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he wrote the first "valentine" himself, addressed to a young girl variously identified as his beloved, as the daughter of the jailer whom he had befriended and healing, or both. It is a note that read: "From your Valentine."