Valentine’s Day – it has become an occasion for flowers, chocolates, greeting cards, and other expressions of love. Yet many people don’t know the origins of this holiday and the courageous stand of the saint for whom it is named. It is believed that Valentine was a priest serving Rome under Emperor Claudius II. At that time, Rome was embroiled in many costly and unpopular military campaigns. As a result, the emperor was finding it difficult to recruit soldiers to maintain an

A young man was walking through his village one morning on his way to see his fiancée. In his hand he held his father's yardstick and a moneybag holding three silver dollars. As he strolled into town, the local printer spied him and the yardstick. Inquisitively he asked, "My dear boy, where are you going with that stick in your hand?" "It's not a stick," the young man replied, chuckling and wondering if the printer needed an eye examination. "Well, actually it is a stick of s