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| St Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains traces of both Christian and ancient Roman traditions. One legend has it that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he banned marriage of young men. Valentine, who found this ruling very unreasonable, defied Claudius and secretly performed marriages of young lovers. When his actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be imprisoned and then put to death. Valentine was beheaded on February 14th. After his death, Valentine was named a saint. And since then this day has been earmarked for lovers. |
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| This legend also says that it was Valentine himself who sent the first ‘valentine’ greeting. It is believed that Valentine, while in the prison, fell in love with his jailor’s daughter, who used to visit him regularly. Before his death he was supposed to have written her a letter which he signed ‘From your Valentine,’ an expression that is very much in use even today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is shrouded in mystery, one thing that comes out strongly is that St. Valentine was sympathetic, heroic and most importantly, a romantic figure. |
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