Zoe’s Valentine
Hello from Zoe the Fabulous Feline! I’ve decided to allow my human, Emily, to co-write this month’s story. We offer our collaborative effort in honor of the upcoming holiday. Before we get to the story, though, we’d like to wish you all a lovely Valentine’s Day!
To prove to Emily that writing is actually work, I assigned her the background research, and since our offering this month is a tribute to the month most celebrated by lovers, she has researched St. Valentine. Yours Truly—that would be moi—has penned a love song which should be a “purrfect” ending to this story. And speaking of “story,” let’s get to it.
Valentine was a third century Roman priest who lost his head to love—more or less–courtesy of Emperor Claudius II Gothicus, also known as Claudius the Cruel.
It’s been said that St. Valentine was martyred during the time Claudius was persecuting Christians. It should be noted that contemporary historians doubt there was any such persecution, given that Claudius ruled for only a short two-year period, and during his reign, he was pretty busy with war activities; in fact, he was far too busy to wage a war on Christianity.
During the time just before and during the rule of Claudius, Rome was engaged in considerable war activity, having to fend off multiple invaders; she needed a strong army to ensure victory. As the legend goes, Claudius was having a hard time building a tough army; men were not joining his legions, and Claudius believed it was their attachments to their wives and families that kept them from signing up. His solution? Abolish marriages . . . ban couples from even becoming engaged! The people were devastated and begged their priests to find a way to marry them.
Valentine was all about love and realized the injustice of the emperor’s edict, which he defied by continuing, secretly, to marry couples. But the secret got out. When Claudius learned what Valentine had been doing, he ordered the priest be put to death and sent him to jail to await the “pleasure” of the Prefect of Rome, who would decide the manner of execution. While imprisoned, Valentine became friends with the jailer’s daughter; the night before his execution, he wrote her a farewell note, signing it “From Your Valentine.”
The next day, Valentine was brought before the Prefect of Rome, who ordered that Valentine be beaten to death with clubs and then beheaded. Legend has it that the sentence was carried out about the year 270 A.D., on February 14th. For his courage in defying the marriage ban, for his service to the people of Rome, Valentine was canonized, being made a saint after his death. Now ain’t that . . .
The Cat’s Meow
By Zoe
This here is Mr. Big Stuff, see him hanging by my door?
He thinks that I still love him,
But I don’t think of him no more.
He used to come a-begging,
I used to roll around the floor.
But I don’t think of Big Stuff anymore.
This here is Mr. Gray Shades, see him hanging by my door?
He knows that Mr. Big Stuff
Ain’t Number One no more.
Gray Shades played his cards just right,
While Big Stuff played the game.
Now Gray Shades is my new true love, my flame.
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
It’s no wonder you have so many suitors, Zoe ~ you are unquestionably THE most fabulous feline 🙂 And your love song is positively “purrfect.” Happy Valentine’s Day, Zoe and Emily and Chris 🙂
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Hello Ms. Tina! You have impeccable judgment, I must say, just like Mr. Big Stuff and Mr. Gray Shades do. Thank you for reading and commenting. But there is one critical question: Did you share to all your pages like you do for Danny the Dog? Or are you partial to canines? :::::huge Cheshire grin::::: Happy (early) Valentine’s Day to you too!
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Dear Zoe, I share to all my pages, just like I do for Danny the Dog. And actually, I’m partial to felines (but don’t tell Danny ~ he’ll have my crackers!) 🙂
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Goodie! :::doing the happy dance, paws pumping:::::
ah….um……….I mean, that is exactly what I hoped to hear, and of course, your secret is safe with me, Ms. Tina.
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Reblogged this on The Life & Times of Zoe the Fabulous Feline.
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I’m not surprised you have all the eligible bachelors in the neighbourhood beating down your door, Zoe. .. you are, after all, just purr-fect! Loved your song.
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shhhhh, Ali! Now my secret is out! I only showed *two* of my suitors so nobody would get the wrong idea, you know? I’m glad you like my song, thank you!
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Yes, I’d like to hear you sing it, actually. And don’t worry, your secret is safe with me! 😉
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Fascinating. And I loved the song lyrics too.
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Hello Sue. Glad you ended your note with a compliment for my song…you know what they say: Saving the best for last! (I’m looking around but so far I have not seen my human post so I’m safe…so far.) Thanks for reading!
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Amusing, informative, great photos. Everything a blog should be. Thank you Zoe and Emily.
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Well, thank you, Mr. Parker. We appreciate your reading and compliments! I guess I do have to share the spotlight with my human a bit….just a bit, though. Don’t want her to get a big head. (She did do a decent job but you didn’t hear that from ME!)
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Just paid a little visit to your blog…liked it a lot. My cat is more sophisticated than I and has her own blog, so she reblogged an article you had there on active vs passive voice. Informative and entertaining too!
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A very interesting history lesson. I don’t often say this (because I think that I already know everything), but I learned something today. Thanks!
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That makes two of us then. Because, Danny-boy, I am shocked to hear you admit that! Here’s what I will admit – praise from you, clever canine that you are, is not to be taken lightly. So thanks for reading and posting!
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Danny, methinks you have hung out with your human too long! But I’m glad you enjoyed the “history lesson”…thanks for reading and commenting!
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Thank you for your poems Zoe and Emily for the information.
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You are welcome, Adele. I had to fight with my human to get that poem in there. Get this, she thought it was “not appropriate” to end a history lesson. She just doesn’t get it. ::::Cheshire grin:::::
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Hi Adele! You’re welcome…it was fun to look up St. Valentine, and to collaborate with Zoe…well….that’s half true! 😉 And it’s also true that I appreciate your reading it.
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It is always good to be reminded of the origins of the holidays. Not always what we expect or think they are. Good research! Adorable photos! Happy early Valentine’s Day!
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Dear CC (if I may be so familiar), My beaus *are* pretty good-looking, aren’t they? Of course, not that I want to sound too full of myself, but I *am an adorable feline so they should consider themselves lucky! I guess I’ll let my human have the computer when I’m done, in case she wants to respond to any of my fans.
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I had no idea how we came to have Valentine’s Day. Thanks for edu-ma-kating me. See. Some people say the internet is bad but I learn something new every day. Thank you, Zoe, and Happy Valentines greetings to you as well. 😉
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Me too, Ms LCTC!! I never knew that some people say that the internet is bad….I’ll bet one of my lives that the people who say that could not live one day without the internet. Right??
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So our true love’s sign themselves with a dead man’s name, who was beaten with clubs and beheaded? Very romantic. He was a very good , a martyr yes… But a saint?
Love the information Thank you for enlightening me.😇
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I know, right? I was surprised too by what Emily dug up on her background research. Of course, I had to check her work and to my surprise, she was pretty much right on. St. Valentine did lose his head for love!
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