Email  Print

Jailed priests and love notes

Dollars on the Driveway

 
Valentine's Day is coming up. This triggered me to finally, after all my years on earth, find out why the heck we celebrate love and romance and mushy stuff on the feast day of a martyred priest. These things don't necessarily go together, at least not in my mind.

What I learned was that St. Valentine lived in Rome in the third century. At the time, Rome was ruled by Emperor Claudius II, also known as Claudius the Cruel. Perhaps that's why February 14 is not known as "Claudius Day".

Claudius the Cruel was having trouble getting soldiers to join his military. (Gee, I wonder why, the Cruel? You sound so warm and fuzzy!) He felt that the reason men wouldn't join up was not so much his cruelty as their hesitance to leave their loves or families. In a stroke of brilliance, good old Claudius II decided to cancel all marriages and engagements in Rome.

Meanwhile, not-yet-Saint Valentine was a priest in Rome. He, along with St. Marius, secretly married Christian couples. As this was a no-no, Valentine was imprisoned and condemned to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He was martyred on the 14th day of February in the year 270 A.D.

Legend has it that while he was in prison, he restored the sight of a blind daughter of one of his jailers. In a totally different legend, he sent a farewell note to that same daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."

So it all comes together. St. Valentine married young lovers and signed notes "From your Valentine". And from this, naturally, we get  Valentine's Day.

Now that you know why we celebrate, here's HOW to celebrate:

We are running special "Love Notes" in the Tuesday, February 14 issue of the Sonoma Index-Tribune. You can send your own special Valentine to your loved ones! You get two names plus 14 words and it's only $12. Each extra word is only a quarter. We have some graphics to choose from, too, and those are just $5 each.

The exciting news is that deadline WAS Tuesday, February 7 but it has been changed to 3pm on Wednesday, February 8. Extra time to figure out the right words.

To place your ad, email Denise at denise@sonomanews.com.

From,
Your Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.
 

With nearly a quarter century of selling newspaper advertising behind me, I am thrilled to be the current Classified Sales Manager at The Sonoma Index-Tribune and SonomaNews.com. Or, as I refer to myself, the Leading Classified Super Hero and Special Section Specialist. I've worked in most aspects of newspaper advertising, from the large daily to the smaller community paper. Starting with legal advertising, my experience includes paid obituaries, classified ads, retail print and digital sales and even an insert or two. My favorite part of my career is partnering with local businesses and watching them succeed.

I can be reached at (707)933-2747 or denise@sonomanews.com. Please feel free to contact me with any advertising questions and I will be happy to do everything I can to help you reach your marketing goals.