The Second Emperor Claudius saw the Romans threatened by Goths. On a wide arc from Macedonia to Germany, Goths were advancing toward Rome on a wide front. Claudius II needed troops. To keep young men available for the military, he wouldn’t allow them to be married.
St. Valentine was a Catholic priest. His viewpoint was a longer one. “If people cannot be married and have families, the Empire will die later, rather than sooner.” So, despite the Emperor’s orders, he secretly married young couples. In the last half of the 200s, he was caught, and sentenced to death by clubbing, to be followed by beheading. His last note was to the daughter of the warden, which he signed “from your Valentine”.
St. Valentine’s day remains a time for expressing love.
