Hieromartyr 3rd century

Hieromartyr Valentine Bishop of Interamna, and Companions

3rd century

Also known as Valentine of Terni · Proculus · Ephebus · Apollonius · Abundius

A bishop of Interamna, given the gift of healing, who brought many to Christ — among them the household of a scholar whose lame son he raised up — and was beheaded with his disciples at Rome.

Feast Day

July 30

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Commemorated as

The Holy Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, the Wonderworker

Come to them for

Healing

Life

Valentine was a third-century bishop of Interamna, the ancient city in Umbria now called Terni, in central Italy. The synaxarion remembers him as a hierarch endowed by God with the gift of healing, through which he drew many to faith in Christ before suffering martyrdom.

He is commemorated together with his three disciples — Proculus, Ephebus, and Apollonius — and the righteous Abundius, all of whom were converted through his ministry and shared in his witness. The Orthodox Church keeps their memory on July 30.

Western (Roman Catholic) tradition counts a Valentine, bishop of Interamna, among at least two distinct early martyrs of that name and commemorates him on February 14; the Orthodox calendar keeps the bishop of Interamna on July 30, while a separate Valentine, the presbyter of Rome, is remembered on July 6.

Timeline 5 moments Read Hide

3rd century Bishop of Interamna Valentine serves as bishop in Umbria, in the city of Interamna (Terni), where he is known for the God-given gift of healing the sick.
3rd century The healing of Cherimon Three Athenian youths studying at Rome — Proculus, Ephebus, and Apollonius — lodge with a tutor named Craton, whose son Cherimon is gravely ill, his spine so contorted that his head is bent to his knees. At Craton's request Valentine prays through the night over the child, who is found healed at daybreak.
3rd century Conversion of Craton's household Craton and all his household believe in Christ and are baptized; his three students likewise receive baptism and become devoted disciples of Valentine. The prefect's son, Abundius, also turns to Christ and openly confesses the faith.
3rd century Martyrdom Pressed to renounce Christ and worship the idols, Valentine endures torture and imprisonment and is at last taken from prison and beheaded.
3rd century Martyrdom of his disciples Proculus, Ephebus, and Apollonius bury the bishop's body at Interamna and continue to convert many; when they are arrested, the executioners behead them by night. Abundius, finding his companions already slain, buries their bodies near the grave of Bishop Valentine.

Contributions & Legacy

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Bishop and Wonderworker of Interamna

Interamna — its name meaning "between the rivers" — is the Umbrian city known today as Terni. The synaxarion places Valentine there in the third century as its bishop, during the era of the Roman persecutions, and attributes to him a particular charism of healing through which the sick of body were restored and many were turned toward Christ.

The Catholic Encyclopedia likewise records a Saint Valentine who was bishop of Interamna, suffering in the second half of the third century and buried on the Via Flaminia, the great road leading north from Rome. It cautions that the surviving Acta of both this Valentine and the Roman Valentine are of relatively late date and of uncertain historical value, so that the narrative details come chiefly from hagiographical tradition rather than contemporary record.

Miracles & Traditions

Traditional Accounts: The central episode of the bishop's life, as the synaxarion relates it, is the healing of Cherimon, the crippled son of the tutor Craton, whom Valentine restored after a night of prayer; the miracle led Craton, his household, and his three Athenian pupils to baptism. A separate Western hagiographical tradition, recorded on Wikipedia, tells of Valentine restoring the sight of a blind girl in the household of the judge who held him in custody — a story attached to the figure of Valentine in the late Acta. Because the sources hedge these accounts as tradition of late date, they are received as such rather than as documented history.

Relics & Shrines

The Catholic Encyclopedia places the bishop's burial on the Flaminian Way outside Rome. By later tradition, relics associated with Valentine of Interamna are venerated at a number of sites across Europe; a skull crowned with flowers attributed to Saint Valentine is displayed in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome. As the early Acta conflate or overlap the two Valentines, the precise attribution of particular relics is bound up with that uncertainty.

Two Saints Valentine

The early martyrologies name more than one Saint Valentine, and the tradition distinguishes the bishop of Interamna from a presbyter of Rome who was also martyred and buried on the Via Flaminia. Western practice commemorates a Valentine on February 14, while the Orthodox calendar keeps the bishop of Interamna on July 30 and the Roman presbyter on July 6. Where the dating traditions differ, the Orthodox commemoration of July 30 governs this entry.

Notes

Pre-schism Western saint; named group.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints