VALENTINE’S DAY

Can any of you tell me what special day is in February? This question is mostly for the men, but some of the ladies will relate. That’s right—it is Valentine’s Day. If that certain person in your life is your Valentine, that means they are the one you love the best. Now, can anyone tell me how Valentine’s Day started? There was a priest by the name of Valentine. He lived in Rome about 250AD. At that time Rome was ruled by an emperor by the name of Claudius. Some people called him Claudius the cruel.

Saint Valentine didn’t like Claudius and he wasn’t the only one! A lot of people felt the same way. Claudius wanted a big army and he thought that the men of Rome should volunteer to join. Many of the men did not want to join because they did not want to leave their wives and girlfriends, so not many men signed up to fight. This made the emperor very angry. So do you know what he did? He had the crazy idea that if men were not married, they would not mind joining his army.

So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Of course the young people thought this law was cruel and St. Valentine thought it was ridiculous. One of Valentine’s favorite jobs as a priest was to marry people. After Claudius passed the law, Valentine kept on performing ceremonies—but secretly he would whisper the words of the ceremony, while listening for the steps of the soldiers on the footsteps outside. One night, he did hear the footsteps. The couple he was marrying escaped but he was caught.

He was thrown in jail and told the punishment was death. St. Valentine stayed cheerful and what happened next was history. Many young couples came to visit him and they also threw flowers and notes up to his window. They wanted him to know that they believed in love, too. One of these young people who visited St. Valentine was the daughter of one of the guards and was allowed to visit him in his cell.

They often talked for hours and she told him that she believed that he did the right thing by ignoring the emperor and to continue performing the marriage ceremonies. On the day he was to die, he left her a note thanking her for her loyalty and friendship and signed it, “Love from your Valentine.” That note started the custom of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day he died February 14, 269AD. Now, every year on this day people remember and think about love and friendship. We all know that love is very important.

The Bible tells us in 1 John 3:18, “My children, our love should not be only words and talk. Our love must be a true love and we should show that love by what we do.” St. Valentine backed up his beliefs with his actions and he was not the only one. God showed us His love before we were even born. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only son.” God gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but have eternal life.

He did this for every one of us before we were even born. Our words have to match our actions if we really mean them. The Bible tells us many ways to show God our love, since He has first loved us. When we listen carefully to what the bible tells us, we learn that we can best love God by loving other people. Let’s show God how much we love Him by loving others as He loved us. Thank you, God, for letting us be your Valentine.