Valentine would have done what all priest do: minister to their congregation. Valentine became a patron saint of lovers (and marriage) when the Roman Emperor Claudius II made it illegal for couples to get married.
He needed men for his army and could not draft married men. Valentine continued to marry couples in secret.
When the emperor found out, he had valentine thrown into prison. While in jail he became a close friend of the jailer's young daughter. Just before he was executed for his crime, he sent her a letter in which he told her to remain faithful to God. He signed it, "From your Valentine."
He is a saint because he died for doing what was correct, he was martyred in 269 in Rome.
Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.
He is the patron saint of marriages, but especially mine because we married many years before I became a Christian on 14th February, St Valantine's Day!
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