The Story of St. Valentine

The Whole Truth About Saint Valentine

Saint Valentine was born long ago in a godforsaken town. His life's dilemmas were familiar to his contemporaries. He led a quiet and peaceful life. He was as poor as a church mouse, banished from his home in his youth, and tried unsuccessfully to survive.

Life passed him slowly. Sometimes he begged for a slice of bread or received free hot soup. Although he had nothing, he was occasionally happy, but blind fate was about to smile on him and turn his world upside down.

One autumn day, Valentine tried to beg for a morsel of food. He also knew that winter was coming, so he would have to find some place to live. He had always managed to survive on some farm or in larger cities. This time, however, he found himself in a strange neighborhood. The people here, though previously quite kind, now somehow stopped helping him in his miserable existence. He increasingly thought about suicide; he had done many things, but somehow nothing ever worked out. When it started raining that day, Valentine broke down, sat on the roadside, and simply burst into tears.

Then the gods smiled on him. A carriage stopped, and a young woman peeked out from behind the curtain. It was the Countess de Balzac. The very wealthy young widow of Count de Balzac. Although beautiful and wealthy, she had a tender heart and took pity on poor Valentine. She took him in, clothed him, and fed him.

This was a turning point in Valentine's life. For the first time, someone had cared for him, shown him tenderness and something more than simple contempt.

Before Valentine was banished from his family home, he had tended the garden there. He had a talent for plants and flowers, unlike people. When he first spoke to the Countess, he told her a short, somewhat censored story of his life. He told her the version he tried to stick to, without all the cruelty and the reason for his exile. The Countess was deeply moved by the young man's tender story, and since he knew how to care for plants, she hired him as a gardener on her estate.

A few months passed, and spring slowly approached. Valentine had never felt so good; he had a place to live, something to eat, he did what he loved, and most importantly, no one was tormenting him. He felt like he was in paradise. One could say he had developed. He gained weight on a good diet; hard work had sculpted him into the image of Adonis, for he was handsome, only neglected.

One spring day, fate would smile upon him again.

He was working with roses when he encountered the Countess. The sweet taste of the awakening garden ignited their senses. She was still beautiful and very lonely. He already felt like he was in paradise, but sometimes loneliness also tormented him. She was Eve to him, and he was Adam to her. Their love flowed like hot, red steel.

At first, they were united by pure lust; they made love wherever they could, but after a few weeks, it blossomed into something more.

The Countess made Valentine her companion, and even the Queen blessed their union. The wedding was lavish, almost rivaling the royal wedding. To everyone, Valentine was a wealthy man from a distant land. No one could recognize the old beggar in the young and handsome man, and even if someone did, they quickly disappeared or kept their mouths shut.

Several years passed.

Valentine, now a count, had a vast fortune at his disposal. Although at first he felt like he was in a dream, he now lived life to the fullest. He began bringing women home from various places, even from distant colonies. At first, the Countess turned a blind eye, but she stopped when the Count began bringing men and animals as well.

One day, a massive argument broke out between them, which was reportedly heard far from their home. That was the last day the Countess was healthy. Valentine then remembered why he had been banished from his home. He remembered the screams of the poor woman he had raped and then killed. He smiled.

That night, the count dragged his wife to bed and, passionately caressing her, rubbed a poison from a distant land into her. The next day, the countess was unconscious. Doctors found no cause for this terrible collapse. Shortly thereafter, she died, and the count became absolute ruler of his estates.

He squandered money left and right, indulging in increasingly larger pagan orgies.

This continued until the Inquisition arrived in the United Kingdom.

To avoid torture and the stake, Valentine donated part of his fortune to the church, kept the rest, and joined a monastery.

He traveled the world as a monk, seeking "forgiveness." Although he continued to have sex in various circumstances. He even served as an inquisitor for a short while. Several years passed.

Finally, Valentine discovered a great way to earn a fortune. During the wars with the pagans, many nobles were taken prisoner. Their families, eager to ransom them, were willing to sacrifice a great deal of gold. Of course, the pagans didn't receive everything.

When he had accumulated a considerable sum, Valentine bribed the appropriate officials and went on a mission to Africa. Before he died, he wrote down his story, embellishing many details and omitting some of the more sensitive ones. He entrusted it to one of his many concubines, then sent her to his homeland to pass it on to a friend of Valentine's, a well-known patron at the time.

And as happens with beautiful stories, the true meaning soon faded, and myth was born from history. Culture transformed great criminals into saints, and the same thing happened here. Ironically, that night, the one on which the countess was poisoned while in the throes of pleasure, occurred on February 14th.

How do you say it? Through love of wealth and through desire for death??