We wish you a very happy St. Valentine’s Day! Do you know why we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day? Now it is mainly so that we can tell people that we care about them, give and receive cards and enjoy chocolate! The children in Múinteoir Sheila’s Art classes made lovely Valentine’s gifts.
But according to one legend, St. Valentine’s Day is meant for people to remember a brave man, a martyr whose name was Valentine. Read the following children’s version of St. Valentine’s Story.
St. Valentine’s Story
The Roman Emperor Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was preposterous! Valentine, who was a priest, thought that people should be allowed marry so he didn’t support that law!
Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, he kept on performing marriage ceremonies — secretly, of course. They would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.
One night, they did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple he was marrying escaped in time. Valentine was caught and he was thrown in jail and told that his punishment was death.
Valentine tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit him. They threw flowers and notes up to his window. They wanted him to know that they, too, believed in love.
One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit Valentine in the cell. Sometimes they would sit and talk for hours. She helped Valentine to keep his spirits up. She agreed that he did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day Valentine was to die, he left his friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. He signed it, “Love from your Valentine.”
It is believed that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day Valentine died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh — because they know that love can’t be beaten!
It may not be widely known outside Ireland that St. Valentine is buried in the Carmelite Church in Whitefriar Street in Dublin.