Editing Saint Valentine (section)

== Identification ==
Saint Valentine does not occur in the earliest list of Roman [[martyr]]s, the ''[[Chronography of 354]]'', although the patron of the Chronography's compilation was a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/index.htm#Chronography_of_354 |first=Roger |last=Pearse|title=The Chronography of 354 in "Early Church Fathers" online |access-date=September 27, 2012}}</ref> There is a reference to his feast day on 14 February in one of the 9th century copies of the ''[[Martyrologium Hieronymianum]]'',<ref>''"XVI kalendas Martii Interamnae Via Flaminia miliario ab Urbe Roma LXIII natale Valentini."'' In J. B. de Rossi, p. 20 (XVI KL. MAR.). See also M. Schoepflin, p. 40: ''"the original text"''.</ref> which may have been compiled originally between 460 and 544 from earlier local sources, but the entry may be much later.  The widespread modern legend that the feast of St. Valentine on February 14 was first established in 496 by [[Pope Gelasius I]], who included Valentine among all those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God" is in fact based upon a statement in the [[Gelasian Decree]] which mentions St George but not St Valentine, and is not in fact by Gelasius.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pearse|first=Roger|date=2024-01-17|title='…whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God' – a fake quote|url=https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2024/01/17/whose-names-are-justly-reverenced-among-men-but-whose-acts-are-known-only-to-god-a-fake-quote/|access-date=2024-01-17|website=Roger Pearse|language=en-GB}}</ref>

The ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]''<ref name=Thurston>{{cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15254a.htm|title=Cathholic Encyclopedia: St. Valentine|work=newadvent.org}}</ref> and other [[Hagiography|hagiographical]] sources<ref>René Aigrain, ''Hagiographie: Ses sources, ses méthodes, son histoire,'' (Paris 1953, pp. 268–269; Agostino S. Amore, "S. Valentino di Roma o di Terni?", ''Antonianum'' '''41'''. (1966), pp. 260–277.</ref> speak of three Saints Valentine that appear in connection with February 14. One was a Roman priest, another the bishop of Interamna (modern [[Terni]], Italy) both buried along the [[Via Flaminia]] outside Rome, at different distances from the city. The third was said to be a saint who suffered on the same day with a number of companions in the [[Africa (Roman province)|Roman province of Africa]], of whom nothing else is known.

Though the extant accounts of the martyrdoms of the first two listed saints are of a late date and contain legendary elements, "a common nucleus of fact" may underlie the two accounts and they may refer to "a single person".<ref>''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'', 1983, p. 1423</ref> According to the official biography of the Diocese of Terni, Bishop Valentine was born and lived in Interamna and while on a temporary stay in Rome he was imprisoned, tortured, and martyred there on February 14, 269. His body was hastily buried at a nearby cemetery and a few nights later his disciples retrieved his body and returned him home.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.diocesi.terni.it/sanvalentino/biografia/main.php?cat_id=1001&subcat_id=240 |title=San Valentino: Biografia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121229053757/http://www.diocesi.terni.it/sanvalentino/biografia/main.php?cat_id=1001&subcat_id=240 |archive-date=December 29, 2012 |work=[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia|Diocese of Terni]] |date=2009}} English version, written probably after examining all previous sources.</ref>

The ''[[Roman Martyrology]]'', the Catholic Church's official list of recognised saints, for February 14 gives only one Saint Valentine: a martyr who died on the Via Flaminia.<ref>''Martyrologium Romanum 2001'', February 14, p. 141.</ref>

The name "Valentine", derived from ''valens'' (worthy, strong, powerful), was popular in [[Late Antiquity]]. About eleven other saints with the name Valentine are commemorated in the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/stindex.php?lst=V|title=Saints A to Z: V|work=Catholic Online}}</ref> Some Eastern Churches of the Western rite may provide still other different lists of Saint Valentines.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsv.htm|title=Latin saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717032135/http://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/saintsv.htm|archive-date=July 17, 2012}}</ref> The Roman martyrology lists only seven who  died on days ''other'' than February 14: a priest from [[Viterbo]] (November 3); [[Valentine of Passau]], papal missionary bishop to [[Raetia]], among first patrons of [[Passau]], and later hermit in Zenoburg, near Mais, [[South Tyrol]], [[Italy]], where he died in 475 (January 7); a 5th-century priest and hermit (July 4); [[Saint Fructus|a Spanish hermit who died c. 715]] (October 25); Valentine Berrio Ochoa, martyred in 1861 (November 24); and Valentine Jaunzarás Gómez, martyred in 1936 (September 18). It also lists a virgin, [[Saint Valentina]], who was martyred in 308 (July 25) in Caesarea, Palestine.<ref>''Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001.'' Index, p. 768; Saint Valentina okay finep. 390.</ref>

Some scholars have considered Saint Valentine a [[Interpretatio Christiana|Christianized version]] of the ancient god [[Cupid]], and the Saint's feast day to be an [[Christianization of saints and feasts|updated version]] of [[Lupercalia]], a fertility festival celebrated in February by ancient Romans. Although the antiquity of this association is debated, the "transformation of Valentine into an auxiliary or parallel to Cupid as sponsor of lovers" was well established by 1400.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oruch |first=Jack B. |date=1981 |title=St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2847741 |journal=Speculum |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=534–565 |doi=10.2307/2847741 |jstor=2847741 |issn=0038-7134}}</ref>