The history of Saint
Saint Valentine , patron saint of the city as well as of Love, protector of lovers throughout the world, was born in Terni in 175 Ac.
Valentine dedicated his life to the christian community wich had formed in the city 100 kms from Rome, where the persecution of the followers of Jesus raged. News of the miracles computed by the saint arrived in Rome and soon pread throughout the Empire, and as a result in 197 Ac Pope San Feliciano consecrated him as the first bishop of Terni, on the city where his remains are still preserved today.
His name has always been associated with love because of an episode wich caused particular outcry at the time: in fact legend narrotes that Valentine was the first clargyman to celebrate a marriage between a pagan legionaire and a young christian. Following this, many asked for his blessing, a fact wich is still remembered during the celebration of the promise in the church wich today beors the bishop's name.
During the period of his pastoral life the Saint was dearly loved by the Umbrians. When the emperor Aureliano ordered atrocious persecutions against the christian clergy, Saint Valentine was first imprisoned and flogged along the Via Flaminia far from the city to avoid revolts and revenge on the port of the faithful, and was then martyred. The body of the bishop of Terni was hurriedly buried in a cemetery situated at the second mile of the Via Flaminia, not far from Rome. A few nights later however, his faithful disciples Efebo, Apollonio, and Procolo went back to the cemetery to exhume the Saint's body. Overcoming numerous obstacles, the three managed to bring Saint Valentine back to the city, then Interamna, to give him a burlai worthy of his veneration. He was morfyred on February 14th, 273 Ac; a date wich from then on has been remembered throughout the world to celebrate Saint Valentine, the Saint of Love.
