The date was February 14, in the year of our Lord, 270. The place Rome. The prisoner Saint Valentine held a parchment missive before him. It had been signed and sealed by Emperor Claudius II himself, known as “Claudius the Cruel.” But now its offer was moot. The choice before him had been stark, but simple. Renounce Christ and worship Claudius and the Romans gods and live, at least for an unspecified number of years until some other form of…..