St. Valentine's Day

St. Valentine's Day

While St. Valentine is not included in the Syriac Orthodox Church Liturgical Calendar, Valentine's Day is commonly celebrated in churches worldwide. Every day of the year, the Church commemorates & remembers certain Saints that have remained true to the faith throughout history. The "Feast of St. Valentine" was a religious holy day, because for Christians in the past this day was a day to remember & celebrate the life and death of a Christian martyr - someone who had died for their faith in Christ. In fact, for millions of Christians around the world today Feb. 14 is still considered a holy day. St. Valentine was a Priest near Rome in about the year 270 A.D. At that time the Roman Emperor was Claudius II, who has come to be known throughout history as Claudius the Cruel. Around this time Claudius started persecuting & imprisoning Christians for not worshipping the Roman gods. Claudius began calling for all the able-bodied men to go into battle with him, & year after year the fighting continued. Many of the Romans, however, were unwilling to go. The married men did not want to leave their families. The younger men did not wish to leave their sweethearts. The emperor soon became angry when he saw that the number of soldiers were too few. So, to free the young men from the burdens of marriage that they would be free to go to war, he ordered that no marriages should be celebrated & that all engagements must be broken off immediately. Many a young Roman went off to the wars in sorrow, leaving his sweetheart behind - knowing that he might never return to marry her. Now, Valentine heard of the emperor's command and felt it was wrong. So, when a young couple came to the Church, he secretly united them in Christian marriage. Soon afterwards another young couple came to him, & he secretly married them as well. It wasn't long before the word spread, & others came to be quietly married. Valentine soon gained a reputation as a friend of lovers & sweethearts in every district of Rome. For more info about St. Valentine & the Orthodox Church:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1Mst-fVOMlzVURoMGh6VkNqWG8/view?usp=drivesdk