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Friends of the Rosary,

Alongside Saints Cyril (827-869) and St Methodius (826-885), we honor today St. Valentine, Bishop and Martyr of Rome (died c. 269), a blessed Catholic priest beheaded.

Valentine, along with St. Marius, aided the Christian martyrs during the Claudian persecution.

Claudius Caesar, the Emperor, issued a decree forbidding young men from marrying to increase the size of his army. He believed that single men made better soldiers than married men.

A young priest named Valentine defied this decree and urged young lovers to come to him in secret so that he could join them in the sacrament of matrimony.

Claudius arrested and brought before him, attempting to convert him to Roman paganism rather than execute him. But Valentine tried to convert Claudius to Christianity, at which point the Emperor condemned him to death.

While in prison, Valentine converted his jailer, Asterius, and his blind daughter, miraculously restoring her sight.

The night before his execution, the priest wrote a farewell message to the girl and signed it affectionately “From Your Valentine,” a phrase that lives on even to today.

After performing many miraculous cures and giving much wise counsel he was beaten and beheaded under Claudius Caesar on February 14th, 273 AD in Rome.

The church in which he is buried was already the first sanctuary Roman pilgrims visited upon entering the Eternal City.

Today, St. Valentine’s Day is a universal symbol of friendship and affection shared each anniversary of the priest’s execution. Valentine has also become the patron of engaged and affianced couples.

Ave Maria!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
To Jesus through Mary!

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Please give us the grace to respond with joy!

+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

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Leo XIV