St. Valentine

The story of St. Valentine is one of true sacrifice. During a time when there was an emperor named Claudius who persecuted the Christian church, Valentine was a Roman Priest. The emperor also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was because Claudius believed that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers had to worry about his family’s security if he died fighting. So, being a little rebellious of this ridiculous law, Valentine decided to marry a soldier and young woman who were deeply in love.
However, Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against reign of Emperor Claudius. One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law at the time was a man whose daughter, Theodora, was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with the young girl and made her feel loved when her father never did. Valentine showed her the love of Christ and in turn, she helped him send letters to the young couple while they were imprisoned. Then, in the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The last note he wrote was to Theodora. He inspired today's romantic missives by signing it, "from your Valentine." Theodora and her father became devout Christians and the young couple lived a happy marriage thanking Valentine for his gift of