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Move over St. Valentine
Meet St. Dwynwen
Ah, St. Valentine, the patron saint of lovers, beekeepers, and epileptics.
Everyone knows about St. Valentine’s Day. We celebrate on February 14th with cards, chocolates, and roses. Well, most people do.
My husband says he doesn’t need a special holiday to tell me he loves me. He tells me he loves me everyday. That much is true. I still wouldn’t mind pretty flowers.
The story of St. Valentine
Did you know that there are several St. Valentines, including a pope? But the origination of St. Valentine’s comes from the legends of a martyred and beheaded priest and a Bishop of Terni. The legends say that St. Valentine signed a letter “from your Valentine” to his jailer’s daughter after he cured her of blindness.
Another legend says the Bishop of Terni secretly married couples to save the men from going to war. In both instances, Claudious II had them killed. It’s likely the stories about both men have become intertwined and has given us our modern day St. Valentine.
It is believed that Valentine’s Day was not observed or celebrated prior to a poem, “Parliament of Foules,” written around 1375 by English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer. In that poem, Chaucer connects the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day to courtly love…
