This Valentine’s Day, make love not war

Who was Saint Valentine? Stories vary but according to one account he was a third century Roman priest. Rome at this time was ruled by the bloodthirsty Emperor Claudius II. Single men were thought to make better soldiers & only they were subject to the draft. Worrying that men would marry to avoid military service Claudius outlawed marriage. Valentine disobeyed the law & performed marriages in secret. Not only did he unite lovers but he provided war resisters with an alternative to the draft. Valentine was eventually executed for his act of defiance.