Valentine was a physician in 3rd century Rome. He was also a Christian priest, administering the sacraments in secret during the times of Christian persecution under Emperor Claudius II Gothicus.
One day a jailer from the emperor's prison appeared at Valentine's door with his small child, a girl who was blind. Knowing the difficulty of curing blindness, Valentine vowed to do his best, and over the weeks of treatment and prayer the three became fast friends. But even his friendship with the jailer could not save Valentine when the Roman soldiers came to imprison him.
Valentine was martyred on February 14, 270, and in 496, Pope Gelasius I named February 14 as the feast day of St. Valentine. On the day of Valentine's martyrdom, the jailer's little girl was able to see for the first time--and her first sight was of a crocus, which is the traditional flower of St. Valentine.
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