February 1⃣4⃣
Martyrdom 🌟🌹
ST. VALENTINE
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_St. Valentine is one of the most misunderstood saint, not only by the world already plunged in impurity, but also by many “so called” Catholics. Sad to say, but today the wicked world taken for a ride by Freemasonry is highlighting St. Valentine as a model, as if he promoted fornication & impurity. More horrifying is that many “so called” Catholics have also jumped on that bandwagon.
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The actual fact about St. Valentine is that he was martyred for upholding the Sixth & the Ninth Commandments to prevent Catholic soldiers of the pagan Roman Empire from living a life of adulterous relationship.
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Who was St. Valentine❓
He was a Roman Catholic priest in Rome during the reign of Roman Emperor, Claudius II. This was the time when Christians were arrested & imprisoned for not worshipping the pagan Roman idols.
Why was St. Valentine martyred❓
To understand this we need to look in Roman history.
In ancient Rome, today was the beginning of Februa, a three-day festival, marked by purification and fertility rituals, in honor of the pagan Roman goddess Februus. After the fertility rites were conducted, men drew the names of women from a jar to determine partners and then they fornicated for the rest of the celebration. This evil practice was condemned time & again by St. Valentine, which had angered the pagans, who were waiting for an opportunity to kill him. The pagans got that opportunity when St. Valentine started administering the sacrament of Holy Matrimony for Catholic Praetorian Guards against the wish of the pagan Roman Emperor❗
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Who were these Praetorian Guards⁉
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The first Roman emperor Caesar Augustus had founded a reserved regiment of Roman soldiers known as the Praetorian guards. These were the most skilled & loyal Roman soldiers chosen by the emperor himself. The Praetorians from then on were under the direct command of Caesar himself and were many times employed in action in case if any disobedient commanders in the Roman military started a rebellion. In short, the Praetorian regiment was the Rapid Action Force of the Roman Empire. The Praetorians were in charge of providing close protection security details to the Emperor and accompanied him on war campaigns.
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During the reign of emperor Claudius II in the 3rd century AD, the boundaries of the Roman empire had expanded from Germany till Egypt & rebellion had became a common thing, hence emperor Claudius wanted fast maneuvering of the Praetorian guards to control rebellions in the empire, and one of the measures he took was to forbid the Praetorians from marriage because moving around with families would be troublesome.
The Praetorian guards had many Catholics among them and in order to prevent Catholic soldiers from living a life of formication, St. Valentine united many Catholic Praetorian Guards with their wives in holy matrimony.
When the pagans brought this to the notice of pagan Emperor Claudius II, he was furious & ordered Valentine to be put to death. Hence on 14th February 270, St. Valentine was beheaded at Rome, on the very day of the pagan festival of Februa.
Later the body of St. Valentine was secretly buried in the Catacomb and there Pope Julius I built a basilica in the 4th century after the conversion of the Roman Empire and 14 February became the feast of St. Valentine.
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