St. Valentine’s Story: bee-lover & martyr

The month of February often arrives with a biting chill, a season where the earth is still tucked away in its winter slumber. Yet, amidst the frost, we find a day carved out for warmth.

Valentine’s Day—a day of paper hearts and pressed flowers—with roots buried centuries deeper, in the soil of sacrifice and a quiet, yet bold, defiant faith.

In the third century, Rome was a place of iron and decree. Emperor Claudius II believed that love made soldiers weak, so he outlawed marriage for the young.

But there was a priest named Valentine who saw the threat this brought to humankind.

He understood that love is not a distraction, but a sacred sacrament that tethers two souls together to the Divine, bringing companionship, healing, and often the creation of new life.

In secret, under the cover of candlelight, he continued to unite couples in holy matrimony. He chose the risk of the shadow over the safety of the law, believing that the covenant of love was worth the price of his own life.

THE KEEPER OF SWEETNESS

Beyond his defiance of the crown, tradition honors Valentine as the patron saint of beekeepers. There is a beautiful symmetry in this—the way he tended to his hives just as he tended to the hearts of his people.

In the ancient world, bees were seen as symbols of the soul and the sweetness of divine grace. To be a keeper of bees is to understand the delicate balance of a community, the tireless work of creation, and the golden reward that comes from patience and protection.

Just as the bees protect the queen and nourish the hive, Valentine protected the sanctity of the family, ensuring that the "sweetness" of life—love itself—would continue to thrive even in bitter times.

"This Saint fought, even unto death, for the law of his God, and feared not the words of the wicked; for he was set upon a firm rock."

Valentine was eventually captured and martyred, but even in the darkness of a prison cell, he remained a vessel for light.

WHY WE GIVE “VALENTINES”

Legend tells us he healed the jailer’s blind daughter, showing her the world not through sight, but through grace. Before his death on February 14th, he sent her a final note, signed simply: “From your Valentine.”

It was a seed planted in the dead of a spiritual winter—a testament that love, like the first green shoots of spring, cannot be suppressed by the weight of the world.

Centuries later, we carry this tradition forward. While the world may focus on the fleeting and the commercial, we invite you to look at the heart of the holiday.

Saint Valentine reminds us that love is:

• COURAGEOUS: It stands firm when things are difficult.

• HEALING: It brings light to the places that feel dark or broken.

• ETERNAL: It outlasts the seasons and the decrees of men.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

As we move through this mid-winter month, may we honor the spirit of Valentine. May we be people who nurture deep connections, who speak words of kindness, and who recognize that the greatest gift we can offer is a heart that remains faithful, no matter the season.

With LOVE,

Honey Bones Co.