Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love and romance. But who was St Valentine. Mark explores this subject and finds as many Valentines who were Christian martyrs as there have been actors playing Dr Who! And the bit about the love and romance seems to have started centuries after all the Valentines, being first promoted by a man called Geoff. On a more serious note, the death of the martyrs called Valentine point us to the real meaning of love. Real love is measured by how much we care for our loved ones – putting the needs of them before ours – and how far we are prepared to go for them. For Jesus and the martyrs called Valentine, that meant losing their lives.
