Happy Valentine's Day

So obviously I'm not Catholic, but there's more to today than just candy hearts...
St. Valentine - Who was he? (besides my middle-namesake)
Patron of love, young people, and happy marriage (apropos, no?)
The first Valentine was one of those Roman Catholic priests who lived during the days of serious persecution (against the Christians) in the Holy Roman Empire. He was martyred, which then was nigh on the BEST of the best ways to die; it was pretty much a guarantee of going straight to heaving and getting saint-hood while you were at it. How much of this story is accurate is unknown, but he definitely existed, and he was definitely sainted in the 5th century. That being said, I use the word "first" for a reason... There were others, of the same name, who were also martyred. With similarly limited current knowledge.

And in other news...
Transfiguration Sunday - What is it? (hint: it's got nothing to do with Valentine)
The three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), and possibly other biblical sources, refer to the event on the mountain where Jesus is made radiant in front of eyewitnesses, and God names him as his son. This year, that was celebrated today... In case you were curious. The whole Jesus = messiah thing is, after all, what distinguished ancient Christians from ancient Jews.