Skip to main content

St. Valentine

St. Valentine

St. Valentine

Feastday: February 14
Patron of Love, Young People, Happy Marriages
Died: 269

Click Here for St. Valentine Prayer's

Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith ineffectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards, to be beheaded, which was executed on February 14, about the year 270. Pope Julius I is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole to his memory, which for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta del Popolo, formerly, Porta Valetini. The greatest part of his relics are now in the church of St. Praxedes. His name is celebrated as that of an illustrious martyr in the sacramentary of St. Gregory, the Roman Missal of Thomasius, in the calendar of F. Fronto and that of Allatius, in Bede, Usuard, Ado, Notker and all other martyrologies on this day. To abolish the heathens lewd superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of girls, in honor of their goddess Februata Juno, on the fifteenth of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in billets given on this day.

The Origin of St. Valentine

The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. [Additional evidence that Valentine was a real person: archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine.] Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth [Claudius II]. Since he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome [when helping them was considered a crime], Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner -- until Valentinus made a strategic error: he tried to convert the Emperor -- whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn't do it, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate [circa 269].

Saints are not supposed to rest in peace; they're expected to keep busy: to perform miracles, to intercede. Being in jail or dead is no excuse for non-performance of the supernatural. One legend says, while awaiting his execution, Valentinus restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. Another legend says, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."

St. Valentine was a Priest, martyred in 269 at Rome and was buried on the Flaminian Way. He is the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travellers, young people. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses.

 
Click HereSaint Valentine Jewelry! - MADE IN USA •Engraving up to 130 letters, with our high definition laser engraving. •Ships same or next day, with or without engraving. •Made of solid gold or sterling silver & can be fully personalized CLICK HERE!
 
from Wikipedia

Previous Saint
< Pope Valentine




St. Valentine

Saint of the Day  

Learn about the lives of the saints and other saint resources, including a calendar, over 5,000 saint biographies, our most popular saints, and a list of patron saints. 7 days / week. See Sample

E-mail:       Zip Code:

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


Find Saint: Products | Books | Prayers | Saint of the Day


Search Saints:

Rate This Saint

Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

1 - 20 of 296 Comments

  1. Veronica
    2 months ago

    Dear Saint Valentine,
    please pray for me and my boyfriend that we make it through this .he has a friend that has been trying to break us up .so she can be with him in stead of her being happy he found someone he's been wanting to be with ...she been texting him and saying things to him to get him to go her way .I klnow he loves me but just can't for some resion tell her to leave him alone .... he choose me to be with and even asked me to live with him all I ask is for him and I to have a happy loving life together and for her to find someone else to be happy with and leave him alone .I know when she texts him he get's funny with me .....please help us live the happy loving live we both want together .I lost my first true love 6 years ago to cancer and have been very unhappy and alone and now that I have what I have been looking for I don't wan't to losse it thank you Veronica

  2. Gary Beemer
    3 months ago

    I remember back in the 1960's when it was still called 'St. Valentine Day', now the far left wing extremists are trying rid us of history. Thank you for the source of Truth. Before you know it, St. Patricks Day will become Patricks Day.

  3. Joseph Mathew
    3 months ago

    St. Valentine, please pray for all the young people, to be guided in the right way.

  4. APrayer
    3 months ago

    Soulmate Prayer
    Dear God, Loving Essence of all there is. Please fill me with your sacred presence.
    I ask for your Love and Guidance And for your blessings
    As I explore the deep reaches of my heart I ask for you assistance
    In releasing that which stands in the way of true love.
    My heart is pure; my intentions clear. lease bring to me my most perfect partner.
    I seek a partner who enhances me by his/her very being.
    who brings more love, joy, peace and prosperity to my life,
    Who I can love fully and who can fully receive my love,
    Who loves, honors and cherishes me completely, and always.
    May my heart be open and my head be clear.
    May my life be ready to welcome True love.
    May I be embraced in a circle of your love
    An uplifted by your grace. And so it is.

  5. Mimi Woodworth
    3 months ago

    Dear St. Valentine,

    I like St. Valentine and beans. Woo woo woo.

    Love,

    Mimi

  6. vance
    3 months ago

    A terrific article. For the first time in my life I actually learned something about St. Valentine. This is what I get for relying on Liberal biased encyclopedias that wrote that Valentine was a pagan Roman figure who became legend for his Love poetry and the use of Cupids the pagan mythological creatures of love. I didn't know that archeologists had discovered his grave in the 1930's. Thank you for educating us with the true information.

  7. Mickey Tee
    3 months ago

    St Valentine pls help me strengthen d luv btw mua nd ma boifrnd....Amen

  8. Raj Ambrose
    3 months ago

    Dear Saint,

    Kindly pray for our family that my wife and I live together in love until death departs. Enable us to be more understanding and caring, united in the love of Christ. Help us to live and cherish christian values and bring up our children in that faith. Give us the strength and courage to overcome our difficulties of mistrust and suspicion. We truly believe that you are watching over our married life and continue to pray for us. Amen.

  9. Irish
    3 months ago

    Saint Valentine please pray for my marriage and for all marriages that honor our God. May we continue to be blessed with the Father's loving grace. Thanks be to God for Saint Valentine who prays for us.

  10. Susan
    3 months ago

    I like to contemplate on Saint Valentine on Valentine's Day. Thank You.

  11. Mona
    3 months ago

    Please pray for Jacob that he finds the right path and peace, for his mother that the doctors can slow the progression of her disease and for all cancer patients that we deal with our disease woth grace and dignity. Thank you.

  12. ifeoma
    3 months ago

    dear saint val
    everyday of our life we av to show luv
    to people around us especially d less privilege,poor,loveless,

  13. amber smith
    3 months ago

    good page you can learn so much

  14. christopher
    3 months ago

    St. Valentine please pray for me and my family
    God Bless us all
    Amen

  15. Emily
    3 months ago

    (Fr) St. Valentine may your good moral be an exemplary teacher for all the youth of our time, and all the priests that have dented our Church with bad conducts and lack of discipline, and may you continually pray for our evil days that sovereign God will answer this world on time by sending back His son for the mercy of the righteous in Jesus Name Amen.

  16. jk
    3 months ago

    Thank you St. Valentine for your help :) may many others be blessed by your intercessions

  17. chet bas
    3 months ago

    happy feast day St. Valentine. please help me to find the right woman to marry. thank you

  18. stephenkc5
    3 months ago

    Great Saint Valentine,i pray dat we may always be the right persons to others in every rela8nship.thanks alot for interceedn for us.

  19. Martha
    3 months ago

    Pray that love continues 2 spread among mankind. Thru the intercetion of St.Valentine

  20. janet
    3 months ago

    Dear Saint Valentine,

    Thank you for praying for us. I hope that you can pray for broken hearts to be mended if it is
    the will of the lord. I myself have a great guy although We have had many struggles...and needless ones, please help us to work it out for life. I want to be with him always as he is my best friend, I know he loves me as well. If it is gods will can you please intercede and ask him to help us be more understanding of eachother. Thank you st. valentine for listening to all of our prayers and for the miracles of love that you help to restore, and help others to find. Please pray for the kingdom of heaven to be big enough for us all who really try and want to be there for eternal life.
    Thank you


Leave a Comment

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment

Previous Saint
< Pope Valentine

Next Saint
St. Valentina & Thea >




Find Saints

Catholic Online offers the largest searchable database of Catholic Saints on the internet.

Browse Saints
by Alphabet
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Patron Saints
by Alphabet
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Newsletter Sign Up

Daily Readings

Reading 1, Sirach 4:11-19
Wisdom brings up her own children and cares for those who seek ... Read More

Psalm, Psalms 119:165, 168, 171, 172, 174, 175
Great peace for those who love your Law; no stumbling-blocks ... Read More

Gospel, Mark 9:38-40
John said to him, 'Master, we saw someone who is not one of us ... Read More

Saint of the Day

May 22 Saint of the Day

St. Rita
May 22: St. Rita was born at Spoleto, Italy in 1381. At an early age, ... Read More




Marketplace

Click Here

Quotable Saints
These memorable quotes of the saints are uniquely organized by theme ... Read More


Click Here

Saint Francis at Pantheon Rome Canvas Print Read More