Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day has always been one of those "holidays" that seem to be driven more by candy and card companies than by any true reason for celebrating the day. This morning when I was getting my six year old ready for school, the radio DJ was talking about Valentine's Day and then said, "And you know, St. Valentine, the guy who started this whole day of love, was beheaded. . ." My daughter whipped her head around and said, "What?" I simply told her that a guy who started the celebration was a guy whose last name was Valentine, and he died for his beliefs. In further researching St. Valentine, it is interesting to note that he is a bit of a mystery. He was believed to be a priest in Rome, and was imprisoned for helping martyrs and their families. Claudius II seemed to like the priest, but when Valentine refused to renounce his faith and tried to convert Claudius, he was beaten and stoned. Still he refused to turn from his faith. Claudius is said to have had Valentine beheaded on February 14 around the year 269. Saint Valentine is busy these days being the patron who is assigned to look after engaged couples, happy marriages, beekeepers, love and lovers, birds and roses, just to name a few. So when you hand your sweetie his or her card today, remember a kind soul is looking down from heaven and smiling.