Purple Light Vacations would like to wish everyone a little love this Valentine’s Day. As the holiday approaches we started to wonder who St. Valentine was and how a saint became associated with romance. There are three people whose stories may have merged to become who we know as Valentine today. The most popular and documented was a priest in Rome during the third century. Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody wars under Emperor Claudius II (Claudius the Cruel) and early Christians continued to be persecuted. The empire was having difficulties getting soldiers to fight in its campaigns which Claudius thought was due to men not wanting to leave their wives and families. Because of this he made marriage and engagements illegal in Rome. A priest named Valentine defied the emperor and continued performing marriages in secret. When discovered he was sentenced to death and beheaded in Rome; supposedly on February 14, 278AD. In a special example of irony, the Catholic Church’s official history doesn’t mention recruitment into the military as being the reason marriages were illegal. It says that Valentine was marrying Christians, which at the time was illegal, and he was beheaded for that. This reminds us to thank our liberal politicians and religious leaders who also defied the norm and supported us in our journey to marriage equality. Maybe in a few generations they’ll be celebrating Saint Newsom’s day. In our next newsletter we’ll give you tips on Valentine’s amazing home town of Rome.