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American Minute with Bill FedererSt. Valentine's Day

In the 3rd century, theRoman Empire wasbeing invaded byGoths.

At the same time, thePlague of Cyprian,probably smallpox,broke out killing at itsheight 5,000 people aday.

So many died that the Roman army wasdepleted of soldiers.

Needing more soldiers to fight theinvading Goths, and believing that menfought better if they were not married,Emperor Claudius II banned traditionalmarriage in the military.

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Emperor Claudius II quelledinternal rivalries resultingfrom the previous EmperorGallienus' assassination byhaving the Roman Senatedeify Emperor Gallienus to beworshiped with the otherRoman gods.

Citizens were forced to worship theRoman gods by placing a pinch ofincense on the fire before their statues.

Those who refused worship of theRoman gods were considered'unpatriotic' enemies of the state andkilled.

Emperor Decian's persecutionspecifically targeted Christians withlegislation forcing them to deny theirconsciences or die.

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During the first three centuries ofChristianity, there were ten majorpersecutions in which thegovernment threw Christians tothe lions, boiled them alive, hadtheir tongues cut out, and worse.

Christian writings, scriptures andhistorical records were destroyed.

Because so many records weredestroyed, details of SaintValentine's life are scant.

What little is know was passeddown and finally printed in theyear 1260 in Legenda Sanctorumby Jacobus de Voragine, and inthe Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493.

Saint Valentine was either a priest in Rome ora bishop in Terni, central Italy.

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He risked the Emperor's wrath bystanding up for traditional marriage,secretly marrying soldiers to theiryoung brides.

When

Emperor Claudius demanded thatChristians deny their consciences andworship pagan idols, Saint Valentinerefused.

Saint Valentine was arrested,dragged before the Prefect ofRome, and condemned him todie.

Whileawaiting execution, his jailer, Asterius, askedSaint Valentine to pray for his blinddaughter. When she miraculously regainedher sight, the jailer converted and wasbaptized, along with many others.

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Right before his execution, SaintValentine wrote a note to the jailer'sdaughter, signing it, "from yourValentine."

Saint Valentine was beaten with clubsand stones, and when that failed to killhim, he was beheaded outside theFlaminian Gate on FEBRUARY 14,269AD.

In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius designatedFEBRUARY 14th as "Saint Valentine'sDay."

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In the High Middle Ages, GeoffreyChaucer, called the father of Englishliterature, wrote Parliament of Foules(c.1393) that birds chose their mates inmid­February:

"For this was Saint Valentine's day, whenevery bird of every kind that men canimagine comes to this place to choose hismate."

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After Chaucer, literature beganassociating Saint Valentine's daywith courtly love.

This eventually developed into the18th­century English traditions ofpresenting flowers, offeringconfectionery, and sendingValentine greeting cards.

People often sign Valentine cardswith X's and O's.

The Greek name for Christ,Χριστό, begins with the letter "X"which in Greek is called "Chi."

"X"became a common abbreviation for thename Christ.

This is why Christ­mas is abbreviated as X­mas.

In Medieval times, the "X"was called the Christ's Cross,or "Criss­Cross."

The "Criss­Cross Row" wasthe way colonial school children learned the alphabet, where theywould start at the X and say "May Christ's Cross grant me speed(success)" and then proceed to recite the 26 letters.

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It reminded students that the fear of the Lord is the beginning ofwisdom"

"Mortals ne'er shall knowMore than contained of old the Chris'­cross row."

The Christ's Cross was aform of a written oath.

Similar to the ancientpractice of swearing upon aBible, saying "so help meGod," then kissing the Bible,people would sign adocument with or next to the

Christ's Cross to swear before God they would keep the agreement,then kiss it to show sincerity.

This practice has come down to us as"sign at the X", or saying "I swear,cross my heart."

Thisis the origin of signing a Valentines'card with an "X" to express a pledgebefore God to be faithful, and an "O" toseal the pledge with a kiss of sincerity.

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History is intertwined with Valentinesreferences:

Frederick Douglass was born a slave andseparated from his mother as a child. All heremembers is her calling him, 'my littlevalentine."

Theodore Roosevelt's wife and motherdied on Valentine's Day in 1884.Depressed, he dropped out of New Yorkpolitics, left his infant daughter with arelative, and went off to ranch in theDakotas.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacreoccurred in 1929 during theProhibition era. Al Capone'sChicago mob murdered sevenmembers of Bugs Moran's Irishgang.

Accompanying Al Capone'shitman Frank Nitti as he terrorized neighborhoods was the young SaulAlinsky, who later adapted this technique into the political tactic ofcommunity organizing.

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Since the Romanpersecutions,Christianity hasbecome the mostpersecuted faith inthe world, withover 300 beingmartyred each day,or one every fiveminutes,predominantly inMuslim countries.

Saint Valentine's willingness to be amartyr for Christ and his heroic, lovingexample still inspires believers to followthe scripture:

"Love your enemies, bless them thatcurse you, do good to them that hate you,and pray for them that despitefully useyou, and persecute you;

That ye may be the children of yourFather which is in heaven."

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