Valentine Day wisdoms St.Valentine is among other things also the patron saint of the Plague victims.

Saint Valentine the holy man now inextricably linked to pastel hearts and Hallmark cards, but he’s the patron saint of much more than love. Bee keepers, plague victims, and epilepsy sufferers also fall under his posthumous jurisdiction.

Despite being one of the most known saints, the exact identity of Saint Valentine is itself rather fuzzy. There was a priest named Valentine, as well as a bishop, who were both martyred in the third century by Claudius II after they defended Christians. The priest was beaten to death and decapitated after being imprisoned. The multiple Valentine identities somehow merged, which accounts for the whole horde of Valentine relics, including numerous skulls.

“The association of Valentine with romantic rites is due to largely futile efforts of early religious Christian leaders to do away with pagan festivals by substituting a Christian observance. February 14 was traditionally the Roman festival of Lupercalia, an important day to honor Juno, the Queen of Heaven and protector of women. The wife of Jupiter, Juno was said to bestow her blessing on courtship rituals or marriages celebrated that day.”

But where do bees, plague, and epilepsy come come in? Well, curing the sick, including epileptics, is one of the miracles attributed to Saint Valentine. In a 2009 paper in Epilepsy & Behavior journal on “St. Valentine–patron saint of epilepsy: illustrating the semiology of seizures over the course of six centuries,” 341 depictions of Valentine curing epilepsy are cited dating back to the 15th century. The plague may have been a later attribution when Europe, struck by the devastating disease, turned to any saint for aid that had any powers of healing. The bee keeping may be more a part of the iconography of fertility attached to Valentine, although sources vary. More here.

What concerns his attribution to the Plague here's a well hidden dark secret:

Valentine Day in Jewish History 1349: A Valentines Day Massacre in Alzace. The Black Death, sweeping Europe in the 14th century, provided an excuse for the citizens of Strasbourg to unleash their anti-Semitism.

On February 14, 1349 – St. Valentines Day – the Jewish residents of Strasbourg, in Alsace, were burned to death by their Christian neighbors. Estimates of the number murdered range from several hundred to more than 2,000. What was left of the Jewish population was kicked out of the city. More on this story here and here.

I'mmm back: Middle Ages scourge of Black Death popping up in affluent regions of U.S.

                        Through what 'port' did it enter America or did it enter 'ILLEGALLY"?




I'mmm back: Middle Ages scourge of Black Death popping up in affluent regions of U.S.(Yahoo).Although the plague is typically considered a remnant of the Middle Ages, when unsanitary conditions and rodent infestations prevailed amid the squalor of poverty, this rare but deadly disease appears to be spreading through wealthier communities in New Mexico, researchers report. Why the plague is popping up in affluent neighborhoods isn’t completely clear, the experts added. “Where human plague cases occur is linked to where people live and how people interact with their environment,” noted lead researcher Anna Schotthoefer, from the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation in Wisconsin. “These factors may change over time, necessitating periodic reassessments of the factors that put people at risk.” This latest study confirms previous reports that living within or close to the natural environments that support plague is a risk factor for human plague, Schotthoefer said. Plague is caused by a fast-moving bacteria, known as Yersinia pestis, that is spread through flea bites (bubonic plague) or through the air (pneumonic plague). The new report comes on the heels of the hospitalization on June 8 of an Oregon man in his 50s with what experts suspect is plague.
According to The Oregon Live, the man got sick a few days after being bitten as he tried to get a mouse away from a stray cat. The cat died days later, the paper said, and the man remains in critical condition. For the new study, published in the July issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the researchers used U.S. Census Bureau data to pinpoint the location and socioeconomic status of plague patients. About 11 cases of plague a year have occurred in the United States since 1976, with most cases found in New Mexico. Plague has also been reported in a handful of other states. Although many cases were in areas where the habitat supports rodents and fleas, the researchers also found cases occurring in more upper-class neighborhoods. In the 1980s, most cases occurred where housing conditions were poor, but more recently cases have been reported in affluent areas of Santa Fe and Albuquerque, the investigators found. “The shift from poorer to more affluent regions of New Mexico was a surprise, and suggests that homeowners in these newly developed areas should be educated about the risks of plague,” Schotthoefer said. Schotthoefer noted that these more affluent areas where plague occurred were regions where new housing developments had been built in habitats that support the wild reservoirs of plague, which include ground squirrels and wood rats. Bubonic plague starts with painful swellings (buboes) of the lymph nodes, which appear in the armpits, legs, neck or groin. Buboes are at first a red color, then they turn a dark purple color, or black. Pneumonic plague starts by infecting the lungs. Other symptoms include a very high fever, delirium, vomiting, muscle pains, bleeding in the lungs and disorientation.
In the 14th century, a plague called the Black Death killed an estimated 30 percent to 60 percent of the European population. Victims died quickly, within days after being infected.Hmmmmm......The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil. ~ Proverbs 16:4, NAS.Read the full story here.

Related:  First Case of Bubonic Plague in 2011 Appears in New Mexico