Who Was Saint Valentine?

Happy V-Day, all! We had extra space in the last issue of Chapman's staff and faculty newsletter, so I decided to do a bit of research in honor of the holiday.



The Feast of Saint Valentine was officially declared February 14 in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, possibly to counter a pagan fertility festival called Lupercalia which fell on February 15. But who was Saint Valentine himself?
It’s difficult to say who exactly our modern day of love is named for. Many legends exist linking Saint Valentine to romantic love, one which says that on the night before he was martyred, he passed a love note to his jailer’s daughter that said “From Your Valentine” and another that he secretly arranged marriages during the reign of Claudius II when soldiers were forbidden to wed.
However, it is likely that these stories were simply invented after the notion of St. Valentine’s Day being linked with love became popular in the 14th century. In reality, early Catholic martyrologies list at least three different St. Valentines: two close to Rome and another in North Africa.
Dating even earlier than these saints is a man named Valentinius who was an influential teacher of Gnostic Christianity in the second century, though later declared heretical. Although it does not appear to be one of his core teachings, he apparently considered the “bridal chamber” to be among the great Christian sacraments, but it's unlikely that this accounts for the amorous association we have with February 14.
So would St. Valentine send a valentine if he were alive today? It's a mystery for the ages; in 1969, the year of the Summer of Love, the Catholic Church removed St. Valentine’s Day from its official calendar in an effort to pare down the number of saint days based purely on legend.

I got an e-mail today informing me that the Summer of Love was actually 1967, NOT '69, which I guess is a common mistake. I'm thinking of running a correction about it in the next issue and then researching and writing an article all about the Summer Love . . . and eventually just write about whatever I want and push the staff and faculty news out altogether! mwahahahahahaha!
(I am just kidding. please don't fire me?)