Posted by Staff on 2/14/2020 to
News
Happy Valentine's Day! Learn about Saints with the name of Valentine. There are a number of them. All were martyred for their faith.
Martyrs Valentine and Pasikrates came from a city in Silistria called Durostorum, now in Bulgaria. They were both soldiers under the governor Absolanus.
Valentine was thirty years old and Pasikrates was twenty-two years old. They both confessed their faith in Jesus Christ, after which they were both tortured and then beheaded in 288. They are commemorated on April 24 by Orthodox Christians.
Saints Valentine, Mark, and Soterikhos were Christians in Asia arrested in the year 304. They were tortured, being dragged over stones until they died. Later, their holy relics were taken to the island of Thasos, which lies between Thrace and the Athonite peninsula. They are commemorated on October 27 by Orthodox Christians, and on October 24 in the Greek Orthodox tradition.
The Hieromartyr Bishop Valentine of Terni lived during the
third century. He was a bishop in Umbria (now Italy), in the
city of Interamna. He had the gift of miraculous healing and was also a teacher. He baptized many into the Christian faith as a result of his healing the sick. His fame led to his arrest, torture, and beheading, by some accounts on February 14, in the year 269. His followers buried his relics in the city of Interamnum. He, and other Christians executed shortly thereafter and buried near him, are commemorated on July 30 by Orthodox Christians.
The Saint Valentine most associated with our Valentine's Day was a priest in Rome who secretly married couples after a decree by Emperor Claudius II that prohibited marriages and engagements. When his conduct was discovered, he was arrested, beaten and put to death on February 14, in the year 270. Saint Valentine's Day, also known as The Feast of Saint Valentine, was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496. Catholics commemorate this Saint Valentine on February 14, the date of his martyrdom.