Description

Oil Dedicated to Sts Valentina and Thea

Prayer:

 Heavenly Father, we gather in reverence to honor the purity and devotion of Saints Valentina and Thea, virgins who lived their lives in faithful service to You. We seek their intercession as we strive to emulate their virtues of chastity, humility, and unwavering commitment to Your will. Grant us the grace to follow their example of selflessness and dedication to spreading Your love in the world. May their prayers strengthen our resolve to live lives pleasing to You, and may their witness inspire us to persevere in our own journey of faith. Amen.

Scripture:

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Matthew 5:8

Saints Valentina & Thea’s Story

Sts Valentina and Thea was from Caesarea of Palestine. She was small and known for wearing old, worn out clothing.
One day, when she was with her friend Thea, they joined a group of Christians gathered to hear the Holy Scriptures. Local officials broke up the meeting, grabbed Thea and tortured her.

Valentina yelled, “How long will you torment my sister?” When the thugs heard her, they grabbed her, too. Valentina was dragged away to be burned on an altar which had already been prepared by the heathens. Kicking the altar with her feet, she knocked it over. Then, Valentina and Thea were tied together and burnt alive.

Saint Valentina’s Christian bond with Saint Thea was so strong that whether or not they were natural sisters, they were spiritual sisters. And, Saint Valentina was not going to let Saint Thea be martyred without her.
The women died for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in 308.
The ancient Latin name “Valentina” means “strong, vigorous and healthy.”

A 2nd account

Thea and Valentina, Virgins, and St. Paul, Martyrs

Among the Christians taken at Gaza, whilst they were assembled to hear the holy scriptures read, was a holy virgin named Thea, whom the judge threatened with the prostitution of her chastity in the public stews. She, to whom her virtue was most dear, reproached him for such infamous injustices. Firmilian, enraged at her liberty of speech, caused her to be inhumanly scourged, then stretched on the rack, and her sides torn with iron hooks till the bare ribs appeared.

Valentina, a pious Christian virgin of Cæsarea, who had also by vow consecrated her chastity to God, present at this spectacle, cried out to the judge from the midst of the crowd: “How long will you thus torment my sister?” She immediately apprehended, and dragged by force to the altar, she threw herself upon it, and overturned it with her feet, together with the fire and sacrifice which stood ready upon it. Firmilian, provoked beyond bounds, commanded her sides to more cruelly torn than any others. Being at length wearied with tormenting her, he ordered the two virgins to tied together and burnt.

This executed on the 25th of July, 308. One Paul, an illustrious confessor,  beheaded for the faith on the same day, by an order of this judge. The fervour with which he prayed at the place of execution for the emperor, the judge who condemned him, and his executioner, drew tears from all that were present.