Author Topic: Who Was the Real St. Valentine? The Many Myths Behind the Inspiration for Valentine's Day  (Read 928 times)

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rangerrebew

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    Jan 9, 2019

Who Was the Real St. Valentine? The Many Myths Behind the Inspiration for Valentine's Day

There were multiple St. Valentines (including decapitated ones), but it was a medieval poet who first established the holiday's romantic tradition.

    Livia Gershon

On February 14, when we share chocolates, special dinners, or doily cards with our loved ones, we do it in the name of Saint Valentine. But who was this saint of romance?

Search the internet, and you can find plenty of stories about him—or them. One Saint Valentine was supposedly a Roman priest who performed secret weddings against the wishes of the authorities in the third century. Imprisoned in the home of a noble, he healed his captor’s blind daughter, causing the whole household to convert to Christianity and sealing his fate. Before being tortured and decapitated on February 14, he sent the girl a note signed “Your Valentine.”

https://www.history.com/news/real-st-valentine-medieval

Offline Absalom

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By the early 4th century, Catholicism had become a rising force within the
Roman Empire; soon to be acknowledged by Emperor Constantine.
Valentine was a Catholic Priest condemned to death in 270 AD for his
strong support of RC marriage and rejection of the pagan/secular Roman rite.
The medieval poet tale is malarkey.

Offline Doug Loss

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Actually, Valentine was an Orthodox priest.  Catholicism as we know it today didn't exist as a separate version of Christianity till much later.
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