Everyone knows Valentine’s Day, but maybe not the martyr who is traditionally honored on this day.
While today is all flowers, chocolates, cards, gifts and that lovey-dovey sentiment, St. Valentine had none of those sweet things. He professed his faith as a Christian and died to uphold the message of humble love.
Saint Valentine is one of the most contradictory saints in history. However, he is still known for his ministry of love and sacrifice.
Here are five facts you never knew about the Catholic priest:
1. He was a priest
According to Catholic Online, there was St. Val.
“Whoever he was, Valentine really existed, because archaeologists have uncovered a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In AD 496, Pope Gelasius celebrated February 14 in honor of his martyrdom. “
2. He defied the orders of Emperor Claudius II
The emperor saw marriage as a threat to the strength of his army. He believed that marriage made young men unfit to become soldiers; as such, an open relationship became the trend. The emperor issued a decree forbidding marriage.
Saint Valentine, as priest and bishop, affirmed the sanctity of marriage by secretly marrying willing couples.
3. He was arrested and tortured
Saint Valentine was arrested, stoned, beaten and tortured for disobeying the Emperor’s decree.
4. He worked miracles
In prison he tried to convert his judge to Christianity. The story goes that the judge placed Saint Valentine under house arrest and ordered him to restore his daughter’s sight.
St. Val accepted the challenge and laid his hands on the girl and her sight was restored. Another account says that the cured girl was his keeper’s daughter.
5. He was beheaded
After healing the blind girl, the judge converted to Christianity, releasing imprisoned Christians and also getting baptized.
Still preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, Emperor Claudius arrested him and ordered his execution. On the anniversary of his death, he left a note for the judge/prison warden’s daughter who had healed. It was signed “Your Valentine”.
Some analysts believe this is why we are giving goodwill cards on Val day.
St. Val was buried on the Via Flaminia north of Rome.
6. Its remains can be found in different parts of the world
Through a stroke of fate, his remains are found in relics in different parts of the world.
Saint Valentine’s skull is housed and decorated with flowers in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome.
Fr. John Spratt received a gift from Pope Gregory XVI in 1836. This gift now stands in Whitefriar Street Church, Dublin, Ireland.
“Other alleged relics were found in Prague in the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Vysehrad; in the Parish Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Chelmno Poland; at the relic of Roquemaure in France; in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna; in Balzan in Malta and also in the Church of the Blessed John Duns Scotus in Gorbals, Scotland.”
7. He is the patron saint of love
St. Val is the patron saint of happy marriages, against powerlessness, beekeepers, love, plague and epilepsy.
8. His feast day
Valentine’s Day falls on February 14, the date of his death. History suggests he died mid-month.
Another historical account also states that the festival of Saint Val was created as a substitute for the pagan holiday of Lupercalia, which brings boys and girls together romantically in a festival honoring a Roman god.
9. He is depicted in pictures with birds and roses.
10. Brazillian scientists have given it a face
Given the centuries from the time of his death, no one could tell what he looked like. According to the Daily Mail, a group of Brazilian scientists used a skull model of the saint to digitally recreate what he would have looked like where he lives today.