I love Valentine’s Day. Or more appropriately, I love St. Valentine’s Day and it warms my heart that the legend of the martyred Christian Valentinus, killed under the rule of Rome’s Claudius, tells of his relationship with the daughter of a Roman jailer. The young girl was blind and was brought to Valentinus to be educated and to pray for her sight restoration. Ointment was applied to her eyes on each visit along with prayerful supplication to God. Weeks went by, but her sight was not restored.
Valentinus was arrested when word of his Christian interventions with the girl became known. The girl’s father, who was part of the Roman guard system, pleaded for leniency but to no avail. On the evening before his execution, he penned a note to her, urging her to remain close to God and have faith that she would one day see and signed it “From Your Valentine”—the first Valentine of heartfelt love. His death sentence was carried out the following day February 14, 269, the same day the girl’s sight was miraculously restored.
What a wonderful narrative. The way I see it, St. Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers. It’s a day to underscore my belief that one day my sight that was taken by LHON will, indeed, be restored. Not sure when, or how, or who will be the initiator of optic nerve restoration, but I have faith it will happen. Thank you, St. Valentine, for your suffering and your example of love. You’re definitely MY Valentine.
#LHON #LebersHereditaryOpticNeuropathy #StValentine #sightrestoration #faith
