Once upon a time there was a monk called

Valentine

who lived in a monastery

with many other monks, each of

whom had some special ability.

One of the brothers was an artist.

Another sang gloriously.

One of the brothers was a doctor;

another a great teacher;

still another a master copier of manuscripts.

There was even a monk with a gift for

managing the monastery.

Only Brother Valentine seemed

without any special talent.

Brother Valentine worried about this

while he worked

in the garden he kept at the monastery.

Sometimes he would take a break from his chores

and gather bunches of flowers and toss them

over the wall to the children from the nearby

villages as they passed the monastery on

their way to school.

Almost all of the brides in the village wore

Brother Valentine's flowers when they were married.

His flowers also decorated the graves in the village cemetary.

Brother Valentine made it a point to find out the

birthday of every boy and girl in the village.

On their birthdays, he would hang a little gift

he had made himself on the door of their homes,

always leaving before anyone saw him.

All the villagers grew to love Brother Valentine.

When he died, having never dreamed that he,

indeed, had a very special talent,

Brother Valentine was mourned widely. Hundreds of people

from the countryside around the monastery

came to his funeral.

After his death, the people whose lives he had touched with his love,

wanted to remember him in some special way.

They decided to do this by giving gifts to the people

they loved on Brother Valentine's birthday.

(author unknown)

Make each day Valentine's Day.

Say I love you!

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