True Valentines Banned From Marriage!

In the year 268, Claudius the II came to power. He gave out a declaration that he would not persecute and kill Christians as the emperors who had come before him. While this was a sigh of relief, his ideas and rules in government were stilled flawed and in error. He became upset that his army lacked recruits. He was unable to increase its garrisons due to the lack of men that wanted to get involved. An idea was generated in his mind that blamed the institution of marriage as the cause of his plight. He made an edict that became law. It declared that no minister could perform the marriage ceremony.

A minister by the last name of Valentine made the decision that he must obey God rather than man. Valentine continued to perform wedding ceremonies even though to do so could cause him great persecution, even his life. Claudius was informed of this priest who refused to obey his edict. He brought him into court and demanded that he bow to the Roman gods. Valentine refused to obey and was sentenced to the terrible execution of beheading.

When the congregation of Valentine heard about the sentence, they were horrified. They sent notes of encouragement to him that reached his cell behind the prison walls. The notes said things like "We love you."; "Stand fast in the faith"; "Love your jailers", "We are praying for you." As each note came, Valentine would send a response and the end of his return letter would contain the final greeting "From your Valentine." Valentine was executed on February 14, 270AD.

When there is a legitimate event in history that resounds one of God's true principles, you can be sure that Satan will always come up with a pagan counterfeit to overwrite its original intent. This has happened throughout all of history in order to bring confusion to the actual event. Around 500 AD, the perverse, secular paganisms continued in Rome. Sexual relations were without boundary and the institution of marriage was suffering. The Romans observed a holiday called Lupercalia. It was named after the god of love (sexual by nature), called Lupercus, and another Greek god called Pan. This festival was celebrated on February 15 and was filled with sensuality and immorality. They had love lotteries where the single women's names went in a drawing and whatever man drew them out became their lover for a year. Another pagan practice was that young men would kill a goat, take the bloody goat flesh, find a girl they liked, and rub the blood on them to cast a love spell. The participants also invoked the god Cupid, who had the power to strike you with arrows of love or arrows of hate.

The Roman catholic pope, by the name of Galatius, wanted to take the holiday back for his purposes, so he researched and found out about Valentine and declared him a saint. He took the idea of the love lottery and placed the saints in a drawing box instead of girls. He declared whatever saint you drew out that you would have to pray to that saint for a year, asking them for their character and nature.

Valentine's day is not a celebration for all lovers. It is a celebration of the institution of marriage. According to Jesus, marriage is between male and female. Also, it is referenced as Christ and the Church. This mystery is that the Word of God which is seed goes into the Church (the bride of Christ) and produces new life by people being born again. True marriage is all about creating a stable environment for the birth of a child, so that the child is not born into a world of chaos. This is why God created everything Adam and Eve would need before He formed their body out of the ground. While many people are broken sexually because of the perversions around us, we must not belittle or deny God's purpose of marriage and procreation. Happy Marriage Day!