#ThisDayInHistory St. Valentine Was Beheaded

On this day in 270 A.D., Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, is said to have been executed by beheading.

Saint Valentine was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6.

Saint Valentine was a clergyman – either a priest or a bishop – in the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians.

He was martyred, and his body was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine (Saint Valentine's Day) since at least the eighth century.

Relics of him were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome, which "remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV"

A common hagiography describes Saint Valentine as a priest of Rome or as the former Bishop of Terni, an important town of Umbria in central Italy.

While under the house arrest of Judge Asterius and discussing his faith with him, Valentinus (the Latin version of his name) discussed the validity of Jesus. The judge put Valentinus to the test and brought him to the judge's adopted blind daughter.

 If Valentinus restored the girl's sight, Asterius would do whatever he asked. Valentinus, praying to God, laid his hands on her eyes, and the child's vision was restored.

Immediately humbled, the judge asked Valentinus what he should do. Valentinus replied that all of the idols around the judge's house should be broken and that the judge should fast for three days and then undergo the Christian sacrament of baptism.

The judge obeyed and, as a result of his fasting and prayer, freed all the Christian inmates under his authority.

The judge, his family, and his forty-four-member household of adult family members and servants were baptized.

Valentinus was later arrested again for continuing to evangelize. He was sent to the prefect of Rome, to the emperor Claudius Gothicus (Claudius II) himself.

Claudius took a liking to him until Valentinus tried to convince Claudius to embrace Christianity.

Claudius refused and condemned Valentinus to death, commanding that Valentinus either renounce his faith or he would be beaten with clubs and beheaded.

Valentinus refused and was executed outside the Flaminian Gate on February 14, 269.


His skull, crowned with flowers, is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics of him are in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church, Dublin, Ireland, a popular place of pilgrimage, especially on Saint Valentine's Day, for those seeking love.

#ThisDayInHistory

February 14, 270 A.D.