Mature Life Features

. . .around 270 A.D.

His true identity was questioned as early as A.D. 496 and one account from the 1400s describes Valentine as a temple priest who was beheaded near Rome by the emperor Claudius II for helping Christian couples wed. A different account claims Valentine was the Bishop of Terni, also martyred by Claudius II on the outskirts of Rome. Because of the similarities of these accounts, it’s thought they may refer to the same person.

In all, there are about a dozen St. Valentines, plus a pope.

The saint we celebrate on Feb. 14 is known officially as St. Valentine of Rome to differentiate him from the others Because “Valentinus”—from the Latin word for worthy, strong or powerful—was a popular name between the second and eighth centuries A.D., several martyrs have carried this name. The official Roman Catholic roster of saints shows about a dozen who were named Valentine or some variation thereof.

The most recently beatified is St. Valentine Berrio-Ochoa, a Spaniard of the Dominican order who traveled to Vietnam, where he served as bishop until his beheading in 1861.

St. Valentine is the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy, among many other things.

People call on him to watch over the lives of lovers, of course, but also for interventions regarding beekeeping and epilepsy, as well as the plague, fainting and traveling. He is also the patron saint of engaged couples and happy marriages.

You can find the flower-adorned skull of St. Valentine in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. In the early 1800s, the excavation of a catacomb near Rome yielded skeletal remains and other relics now associated with St. Valentine. As is customary, these bits and pieces of the late saint’s body have been distributed to reliquaries around the world. You’ll find other bits of St. Valentine’s skeleton on display in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Scotland, England and France.

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