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Show THREE "ST. VALS" Church Dedicated to One of Them i Was Long a Lovers' I Trysting Place. IN SPRING the young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, sang Tennyson, who knew so well the tradition of sweet sentiment, which chastened the currents of English Eng-lish literature. But even before the pungent zephyrs of the flowery springtime spring-time began to waft to the souls of the young the exhilarating emotion of affection af-fection St. Valentine's day had given a forecast of veraal Joys to be. In Christian times, good old St. Valentine is a pleasant substitute for the pagan Cupid, whose darts, after many centuries of use (and he was always al-ways an efficient marksman) must low be blunt these many years. In the traditions of sentiment, St Valentine, Valen-tine, who resembles St. Patrick in appearance, ap-pearance, long, flowing episcopal vestments, vest-ments, equally long, flowing white beard, golden crozier and all, is almost as well known and beloved as Santa Claus. It is true, the former is rather the friend and patron of the young folk over sixteen, while the latter Is the delight of the little children. ' The one brings the delights of love, the other fills up the baby's stocking. The one, has his benign, auspicious day on February 14, the other makes his frigid advent in the midst of winter. If all the world loves a lover, that same world loves St. Valentine. It was he, In the days of old, who refined re-fined the art of love by changing a pagan pa-gan custom into a Christian tradition. Venerable old Alban Butler, in his great work, "The Lives of the Saints," cays : "To abolish the heathen's lewd custom cus-tom of superstition of Roman boys' drawing the names' of girls In honor of the pagan goddess, Februata Juno, on the 14th of February, several zealous zeal-ous pastors substituted the names of 6aints In billets given on this day." February 14 was the day upon which good Bishop Valentine gave his life as a martyr for the faith of Christ. At least three different St. Valentines Valen-tines (and good things come in threes), all of them martyrs, are mentioned In all the early martyrologies of the Catholic Cath-olic church, says the Catholic Encyclopedia, Encyclo-pedia, under date of February 14. One Is described as a priest of Rome, another an-other Interamna (the modern Terni), and these two seem both to have suffered suf-fered in the second half of the third century, and to have been buried on the Flamlnlan Way, Rome, but at different dif-ferent distances from the city. In William of Malmesbury's time, what was known to the ancients as the Flamlnlan Fla-mlnlan gate of Rome, and Is now the Porta del Populo, was called the Gate of St. Valentine. The name was taken from a small church In that street. The favored neighborhood was for centuries a favorite trysting place for lovers, and a spot where pictures and love letters often were exchanged. Of both these St. Valentine's acts or records rec-ords are preserved, but they are of relatively late date, and of no great historical value which is no hindrance to the devotion of lovers, whose fealty is not always found on the rock of history or the solid tradition of absolute abso-lute facts. Of the third St. Valentine, who suffered martyrdom In Africa with a number of companions, nothing further fur-ther Is known. The popular customs' connected with St. Valentine's day undoubtedly have their origin In the conventional belief generally received in England and France during the middle ages that on February 14 (I. e., half-way through the second month of the year), the birds begin to pair, which happens to he about the time that the young mnn's fancy and the young girl's f yy, too, for all ttmt, 6wiftly turns toV of lov, ) |