Valentine’s day is here again . A day specially made for lovers , so to speak. Recently people in Pakistan protested against the celebration of valentine’s day. Yes ! they did, it is kind of weird. The story behind valentine’s day is a one of courage, strength , perseverance until the point of death. It is a story that inspires us all to live for something so that when we are gone, we would be remembered for something. Not protesting obviously .There was a priest by the name of Valentine. He lived in Rome about 250 AD. That was a long, long time ago!
At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor by the name of Claudius. Some people called him Claudius the Cruel. St. Valentine didn't like Emperor Claudius, and he wasn’t the only one! A lot of people felt the same way. Claudius wanted a big army. He thought men should volunteer to join. Many men just did not want
to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and girlfriends. So, not many men signed up to fight.
This made Claudius mad. So do you know what he did? He had a crazy idea that if men were not married, they would not mind joining his army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was really cruel. Valentine thought it was ridiculous! One of his favorite jobs as a priest
was to marry people. Well after Emperor Claudius passed his law, he kept on performing marriage ceremonies– but secretly. He would whisper the words of the ceremony, while listening for soldiers on the steps outside.
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One night, he did hear footsteps. The couple he was marrying escaped, but he was caught He was thrown in jail and told that his punishment was death. St. Valentine tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what happened? Many young people came to the jail to visit him. They threw flowers and notes up to his window.
They wanted him to know that they, too, believed in love. One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit him in his cell. They often sat and talked for
hours.
She believed he did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and performing marriage ceremonies. On the day he was to die, he left her a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. He signed it, “Love from your Valentine.”
That note started the custom of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day he died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can’t be beaten!
And that is why years later we still have valentine, we still fall in love and get married. Happy Valentine’s day
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