Today is a feast, a gift and remembrance, of an occasion I have yet see Hallmark 
really nail with one of its watercolored limericks: Â there once was a man so in love with God that he was beheaded for performing marriages in opposition to war. Â In defense of hallmark, that is a very hard picture to paint with water colors…
In the third century, Emperor Claudius had declared 
marriage illegal in order to encourage more young men to volunteer to be soldiers. Â Valentine, a celibate priest, opposed both the aggressive violence of the empire as well as the notion that the state alone held the reins of marriage. Â The priest knew how central marriage is to the life of the Church and couldn’t stop marrying people just because Claudius had other plans.
