In the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was being invaded by Goths.
At
the same time, the Plague of Cyprian, probably smallpox, broke out
killing at its height 5,000 people a day. So many died that the Roman
army was depleted of soldiers.
Needing
more soldiers to fight the invading Goths, and believing that men
fought better if they were not married, Emperor Claudius II banned
traditional marriage in the military.
Also, to quell internal
rivalries over the previous Emperor Gallienus being assassinated,
Claudius had the Senate deify him with the Roman gods to be worshiped.
Those
who refused to worship the Roman gods were considered 'unpatriotic'
enemies of the state and killed, as in Emperor Decian's persecution
which targeted Christians with legislation forcing them to deny their
consciences or die.
During
the first three centuries of Christianity, there were ten major
persecutions in which the government threw Christians to the lions,
boiled them alive, had their tongues cut out, and worse.
Christian writings, scriptures and historical records were destroyed.
Because so many records were destroyed, details of
Saint Valentine's life are scant.
What little is know was passed down and finally printed in the year 1260 in
Legenda Sanctorum by Jacobus de Voragine, and in the
Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493.
Saint Valentine was either a priest in Rome or a bishop in Terni, central Italy.
He risked the Emperor's wrath by standing up for traditional marriage, secretly marrying soldiers to their young brides.
When Emperor Claudius demanded that Christians deny their consciences and worship pagan idols,
Saint Valentine refused.
Saint Valentine was arrested, dragged before the Prefect of Rome, and condemned him to die.
While awaiting execution, his jailer, Asterius, asked
Saint Valentine
to pray for his blind daughter. When she miraculously regained her
sight, the jailer converted and was baptized, along with many others.
Right before his execution,
Saint Valentine wrote a note to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "
from your Valentine."
Saint Valentine
was beaten with clubs and stones, and when that failed to kill him, he
was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate on FEBRUARY 14, 269AD.
In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius designated FEBRUARY 14th as
"Saint Valentine's Day." 
In the High Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer, called the father of English literature, wrote
Parliament of Foules (c.1393) that birds chose their mates in mid-February:
"For this was
Saint Valentine's day, when every bird of every kind that men can imagine comes to this place to choose his mate."
After Chaucer, literature began associating
Saint Valentine's day with courtly love.
This eventually developed into the 18th-century English traditions of presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending
Valentine greeting cards.
People often sign
Valentine cards with X's and O's.
The Greek name for Christ, Χριστό, begins with the letter "X" which in Greek is called "Chi."
"X" became a common abbreviation for the name Christ.
This is why Christ-mas is abbreviated as X-mas.
In Medieval times, the "X" was called the Christ's Cross, or "Criss-Cross."
The Christ's Cross was a form of a written oath.
Similar
to the ancient practice of swearing upon a Bible, saying "so help me
God," then kissing the Bible, people would sign a document with or next
to the Christ's Cross to swear before God they would keep the agreement,
then kiss it to show sincerity.
This practice has come down to us as "sign at the X", or saying "I swear, cross my heart."
This is the origin of signing a
Valentines' card with an "X" to express a pledge before God to be faithful, and an "O" to seal the pledge with a kiss of sincerity.
Get the book, American Minute - Notable Events in American History Remembered on the Date They OccurredHistory is intertwined with
Valentines references:
Frederick Douglass was born a slave and separated from his mother as a child. All he remembers is her calling him, '
my little valentine."
Theodore Roosevelt's wife and mother died on
Valentine's Day
in 1884. Depressed, he dropped out of New York politics, left his
infant daughter with a relative, and went off to ranch in the Dakotas.
The
St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred in 1929 during the Prohibition era. Al Capone's Chicago mob murdered seven members of Bugs Moran's Irish gang.
Accompanying
Al Capone's hitmen as they terrorized neighborhoods was the young Saul
Alinsky, who later adapted their techniques into the political tactic of
community organizing.
Since the time of Roman persecutions, Christianity has become the most persecuted faith in the world.
Believers are still inspired by
Saint Valentine's example as he acted out the scripture 'love your enemies...pray for those who mistreat you.'
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