Where is my original valentine?

Love is in the air… Not just in the FM radios. Love quotes galore, love cards with splashy silver lining, colours pink and red running out of stock, reassuring lines “roses are red and violets are blue,” there is something mystifying for every young lover this season. This is all exciting. Wow, kudos to him – the man who began it all – he must be wonderful!
Valentine and love have become synonymous. But who coupled them? It was Valentine himself! The girl who thinks of her Valentine today must give a thought to the original guy who began it. After all a loving heart is no less grateful.
The original Valentine was put in prison. This was because he joined young couples in love by the holy marriage. Valentine had disobeyed the mad King Claudius who said “Young men who married make bad soldiers; they must not marry.” This was cruelty.
Valentine was the bishop of Interamna. He was called the “friend of lovers.” He secretly invited young lovers to come to him and got them married by the sacrament of matrimony. This made King Claudius in Rome angry because he had already abolished marriage. The king arrested Valentine. Execution for Valentine was impending. The king tried to advise Valentine to accept the Roman gods and denounce Christ who taught to love and live genuinely. Valentine instead tried to convert the king himself. Death for Valentine became certain. Valentine was clubbed, stoned, and then beheaded on 24th February in A.D. 270 – sad end for a person who wanted to promote genuine love found in marriage.
Valentine’s day is about true love, friendship, and faithfulness. It least suggests flirtations, carnal (‘fleshy’) love, or heightened fantasies of adolescence.
It’s not to say human romantic love is bad and sinful. The pope Benedict himself uses the word eros associated with human romantic love, to describe God’s love for humankind (in his first encyclical “God is Love”).
In a world where true love and values are on the decline, today’s youngsters can be models of true love like Valentine. They too have the opportunity to become heroes like St. Valentine.
Our hero is Valentine whose hero was Jesus himself who taught to love. On Valentine’s Day we celebrate love. When you circle February 14 on your calendar next time, you can remember who made this day for you to be in the circle of love.