This picture, taken last week in a market in Baghdad, shows that Valentine’s Day is big business, and not just in Christian countries. Although outlawed in Iran last year, and frowned on by the mullahs, this day dedicated to a Christian Martyr has become a favorite holiday of romantic young people in the middle-east.
So, who was St. Valentine, anyway?
He was in fact a pagan priest jailed for helping Christians in Rome.
It is said that he restored the sight of the jailer's blind daughter but was only rewarded by being clubbed to death. People doing miracles from jails — what would happen if this sort of thing was left unchecked?
His executioners did however forget to check the date. It was common belief that the fourteenth day of February was the day birds chose their mates. Having a Martyr who died on this day gave young lovers their very own Saint and helped folks like Hallmark sell a gazillion cards.
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