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  Shrine of St Valentine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Whitefriar St, Dublin [ Source ] I first posted this two years ago and included material I used on 12 February 2009. The core of the stories about St Valentine is that this young Roman priest, who was what we would now call a diocesan priest, was martyred for officiating at weddings when Emperor Claudius II, ‘the Cruel’, forbade them because he was engaged in so many wars and needed the young men to fight in them. In the Philippines  (where I was based most of the time from 1971 to 2017)  St Valentine’s Day is almost always referred to as ‘Valentine’s Day’. Indeed the ‘St’ is left out in most English-speaking countries. For many young people it is simply a day to express innocent friendship. For many married couples it is a day for renewing their love for one another. But for many unmarried young adults it is, quite frankly, a day for fornicating. This would be the case in many other countries, as would adultery....

  Shrine of St Valentine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Whitefriar St, Dublin [ Source ] This post includes material I used on 12 February 2009. The core of the stories about St Valentine is that this young Roman priest, who was what we would now call a diocesan priest, was martyred for officiating at weddings when Emperor Claudius II, ‘the Cruel’, forbade them because he was engaged in so many wars and needed the young men to fight in them. Please continue at Bangor to Bobbio .

  River Bank in Springtime Vincent van Gogh [ Wikipedia ;  source ] He is like a tree planted by water,      that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes,      for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought,      for it does not cease to bear fruit  (Jeremiah 17:8; First Reading). He is like a tree      planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,      and its leaf does not wither  (Psalm 1:3; Resposnorial Psalm). R eadings   (Jerusalem  Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Luke 6:17, 20-26  ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)    Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place, with  a great crowd of his disciples...

There are various stories and legends about St Valentine. Some say he was a bishop, some that he was a priest. But at the heart of the stories is the reality that he was martyred for officiating at weddings. His feast day is no longer on the universal calendar of the Catholic Church where the Ordinary Form of the Mass is celebrated, the form of the Mass introduced after the Second Vatican Council, in 1969, the only form of the Mass that most Catholics today have experienced. But his feast day is still on the calendar used by those who celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, using the Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962.  In many parts of the world St Valentine's Day has become a largely secular affair and the word 'Saint' dropped. Here in the Philippines it is for more than a few an excuse for fornication and adultery, though not by any means for all. For some it is a day to celebrate innocent friendship. For some years the Catholic Church ...