Be My Valentine!

by Marie Higgins

When love is not madness, it is not love. ~Pedro Calderon de la Barca


Many are the starrs I see, but in my eye no starr like thee. ~English saying used on poesy rings


Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939


Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. ~Albert Einstein

Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine! ~Thomas Hood


I claim there ain't Another Saint As great as Valentine. ~Ogden Nash

Must, bid the Morn awake!
Sad Winter now declines,
Each bird doth choose a mate;
This day's Saint Valentine's.
For that good bishop's sake
Get up and let us see
What beauty it shall be
That Fortune us assigns. ~Michael Drayton

“Be My Valentine”…

Who was Saint Valentine … and why in heavens do people celebrate his name by writing sonnets, giving flowers, or candy to those they love?

Here is what I researched about our dear Saint Valentine. Several articles were written about the 'legend' of Saint Valentine...

Wikipedia says this –

Saint Valentine (in Latin, Valentinus) is the name of several (14 in all ^[2]) martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name "Valentine", derived from valens (worthy, strong, powerful), was popular in Late Antiquity.^[3] Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried on the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14, he was born on April 16. It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name. For this reason this liturgical commemoration was not kept in the Catholic calendar of saints for universal liturgical veneration as revised in 1969.^[4] But "Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome" remains in the list of saints proposed for veneration by all Catholics.^[5]

One of the articles I read talked about a priest who served during the third century in Rome.  When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers, he outlawed marriages for young men.  The priest – Valentine – realized the injustice, defied the emperor and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.  When Valentine was discovered for going against the emperor, Claudius ordered the priest be put to death.  On the eve of his execution, Valentine wrote a letter to his lover (some believed it was the daughter of one of the jailers). Valentine signed this letter, “from your Valentine”.  Eventually, the Catholic Church sainted Valentine.

When I think about all my favorite Valentine’s Days, only ONE comes to mind. I had just met my future husband, but at the time, I was dating his best friend. Little did I know at the time that my future husband was secretly wishing I would love him and not his friend.  Anyway…it was my future husband’s idea to get some red spray paint and spray a big heart on my snow-covered lawn. That morning when I pulled out of my driveway on my way to work…I saw the heart and in it said “Be Mine”. Ahhhh….  That’s been the most memorable Valentine’s Day gift!!!

So…since today is officially Valentine’s Day – I want to hear about YOUR favorite Valentine’s Day gift – either one you gave or one you received.  

Marie Higgins is a multi-published author of romance; from refined bad-boy heroes who makes your heart melt to the feisty heroines who somehow manage to love them regardless of their faults. Visit her website / blog to discover more about her – http://mariehiggins84302.blogspot.com

It wasn’t much later until this day became associated with ‘love’. During the middle ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season.

Valentines greetings did not become popular until the Middle Ages. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt.