Flowers, candy, red hearts and romance.
That's what Valentine's day is all about,
right? Well, maybe not.

The origin of this holiday for the expression
of love really isn't romantic at all -- at least
not in the traditional sense. Father Frank
O'Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin,
Ireland, tells the real story of the man behind
the holiday -- St. Valentine.

"He was a Roman Priest at a time when there
was an emperor called Claudias who
persecuted the church at that particular
time," Father O'Gara explains. " He also had
an edict that prohibited the marriage of
young people. This was based on the
hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought
better than married soldiers because married
soldiers might be afraid of what might
happen to them or their wives or families if
they died."


"I think we must bear in mind that it was a
very permissive society in which Valentine
lived," says Father O'Gara. "Polygamy would
have been much more popular than just one
woman and one man living together. And yet
some of them seemed to be attracted to
Christian faith. But obviously the church
thought that marriage was very sacred
between one man and one woman for their
life and that it was to be encouraged. And so
it immediately presented the problem to the
Christian church of what to do about this."


"The idea of encouraging them to marry
within the Christian church was what
Valentine was about. And he secretly married
them because of the edict."


Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned
and tortured for performing marriage
ceremonies against command of Emperor
Claudius the second. There are legends
surrounding Valentine's actions while in
prison.

"One of the men who was to judge him in line
with the Roman law at the time was a man
called Asterius, whose daughter was blind.
He was supposed to have prayed with and
healed the young girl with such astonishing
effect that Asterius himself became Christian
as a result."

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 story
goes that the last words he wrote were in a
note to Asterius' daughter. He inspired
today's romantic missives by signing it, "from
your Valentine."

"What Valentine means to me as a priest,"
explains Father O'Gara, "is that there comes
a time where you have to lay your life upon
the line for what you believe. And with the
power of the Holy Spirit we can do that --
even to the point of death."

Valentine's martyrdom has not gone
unnoticed by the general public. In fact,
Whitefriars Street Church is one of three
churches that claim to house the remains of
Valentine. Today, many people make the
pilgrimage to the church to honor the
or
courage and memory of this Christian saint.
"Valentine has come to be known as the
patron saint of lovers. Before you enter into
a Christian marriage you want some sense of
God in your life -- some great need of God in
your life. And we know, particularly in the
modern world, many people are meeting God
through his Son, Jesus Christ."


"If Valentine were here today, he would say to
married couples that there comes a time
where you're going to have to suffer. It's not
going to be easy to maintain your
commitment and your vows in marriage.
Don't be surprised if the 'gushing' love that
you have for someone changes to something
less "gushing" but maybe much more mature.
And the question is, is that young person
ready for that?"

"So on the day of the marriage they have to
take that into context," Father O'Gara says.
"Love -- human love and sexuality is
wonderful, and blessed by God -- but also the
shadow of the cross. That's what Valentine
means to me."

www1.cbn.com/st-valentine-real-story