By Scott Hahn
So February 14 is Valentine’s Day — and there are 14 saints by that name, at least!
The name “Valentine” comes from the Latin word valens, which means “strong” or “powerful,” and there were many people in the ancient world with that name.
The earliest one was St. Valentine of Rome. He was a priest in Rome, martyred in A.D. 269, and buried near the Via Flaminia. That’s pretty much all we know about him. (His skull is in the picture above.)
Another one who lived right around the time of the first was St. Valentine of Terni (or Interamna). He was a bishop in central Italy who was martyred in A.D. 273. He was also buried near the Via Flaminia.
The third St. Valentine was martyred with a group of companions in Africa at some point in the early Church.
“St. Valentine” was added to the liturgical calendar by Pope Galesius in A.D. 496. It may have been St. Valentine of Rome, or some combination of the three (the lives of saints with the same name sometimes blur together).
There are also at least 11 more St. Valentines that came later, but who are not remember on February 14th.
In fact, this is why St. Valentine’s feast was not included in the General Roman Calendar in its 1969 revision: “Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14.”
Everything You Think You Know About St. Valentine Is (Probably) Wrong by Church POP Editor – Feb 13, 2017
Taken from the Facebook page of Scott Hahn
