St. Valentine’s Day is Tuesday. But James and I are taking advantage of the weekend for a small celebration today.

There are numerous legends and accounts of St. Valentine. Wikipedia tells the history of St. Valentine’s Day. This is from the Anglican Breviary:

On this day is commemorated blessed Valentine, a priest of Rome who was martyred for Christ, probably in the persecution of Claudius the Goth, about the year 269. He was buried on the Flaminian Way; and about 350 a church was built over his tomb, and later a catacomb was constructed thereunder, wherein were buried the remains of many Martyrs. [… In England, from the time of Chaucer onwards, there was a belief that on his feastday the birds began to choose their mates. From which arose the custom of arranging betrothals in Saint Valentine’s Tide . . .

I rather like the idea of joining with the love birds as we celebrate our love. So today I’m wearing a Threadless tee with this “For the birds” design.

Valentine’s feast day was removed from the Roman church calendar in 1969 as part of a purge of merely legendary saints. In 1836, relics alleged to be of St. Valentine had been removed from Rome and donated by Pope Gregory XVI to Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dubin, where there is a Shrine of St. Valentine“