For many years now we have celebrated Valentine's Day; many of us not knowing how this romantic holiday came about or who it was named after. Valentine's Day is a special day that has been set aside in order to pay honorage to love. On the 14th of February, people send flowers, candy or cards as an expression of their love and appreciation to their lovers, friends or relatives. Yet, few will stop and ponder why this date singled out, or just whom this Valentine fellow was, that he should have a day named after him.
             Who was Valentine? That question is not easy to answer because depending on which book you may read you may get a different version. You may find one author stating that there were two different men named Valentine whose lives were mixed together to form one legend. Another author may argue two different legends arose about the same man. And yet another author may say that there were three men named Valentine.
             There are stories, such as these; Valentine was a Roman priest who was martyred during the prosecution of Claudius, the Goth, around AD 269 or 270 and was buried on the Flaminian Way. The second story is, Valentine was a bishop of Terni martyred in Rome. The third is, Valentine helped Christians during a time of persecution. He was caught and put in jail; he became a believer there and was bludgeoned to death for this on February 14th, 269. While in prison he is said to have sent messages to friends saying "Remember your Valentine" and "I love you". It is said in another story that Valentine was a priest that secretly married couples, defying the law of Emperor Claudius, which temporarily forbade marriages.
             And yet another story said that Valentine was imprisoned for refusing to worship pagan gods. Falling in love with the jailer's daughter, he is said to have cured her through prayer and on the date of execution, February 14th, he had written her
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