Commemoration of Valentine, Martyr

Our churches teach that the remembrance of the saints is to be commended in order that we may imitate their faith and good works according to our calling. — Augsburg Confession 21


It's always amazing to me how clueless most people are about what St. Valentine's Day is all about. Or more properly, why we would celebrate the Commemoration of St. Valentine, Martyr. Valentine's Day has nothing at all to do with flowers and cards and pink sentimentality.
So, who was Valentine? Tradition says he was a physician and a priest who was martyred on February 14, 270 A.D. Of course, there is considerable dispute about this since Valentine doesn't appear on the earliest lists of martyrs. The festival commemorating St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those "whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God."
Tradition suggests that on the day he was executde for his Christian faith, he left a note of encouragement for a child of his jailer written on an irregularly-shaped piece of paper (♥). This greeting became a pattern for millions of written expressions of love and caring that now are the highlight of Valentine’s Day in many nations.

We pray— Almighty and everlasting God, You kindled the flame of Your love in the heart of Your holy martyr Valentine. Grant to us, Your humble servants, a faith like Valentine’s and the power of love, that we who rejoice in Christ’s triumph may embody his love in our lives; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.