(LifeSiteNews) — The Church honors, on this fourteenth day of February, the memory of the holy Priest, Valentine, who suffered martyrdom towards the middle of the third century.
The ravages of time have deprived us of the details of his life and sufferings; so that extremely little is known of our saint. This is the reason of there being no Lessons of his Life in the Roman Liturgy.
His name, however, has always been honored throughout the whole Church, and it is our duty to revere him as one of our protectors during the Season of Septuagesima. He is one of those many holy martyrs, who meet us at this period of our year, and encourage us to spare no sacrifice which can restore us to, or increase within us, the grace of God.
Pray, then, holy martyr, for the Faithful, who are so persevering in celebrating thy memory. The day of Judgment will reveal to us all thy glorious merits: Oh! intercede for us, that we may then be made thy companions at the right hand of the Great Judge, and be united with thee eternally in heaven.
ANTIPHON
ANT. This saint fought, even unto death, for the law of his God, and feared not the words of the wicked; for he was set upon a firm rock.
Let us pray:
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who solemnize the festival of blessed Valentine, thy Martyr, may, by his intercession, be delivered from all the evils that threaten us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
This text is taken from The Liturgical Year, authored by Dom Prosper Guéranger (1841-1875). LifeSiteNews is grateful to The Ecu-Men website for making this classic work easily available online.