Valentines Day and Opals
Valentine's Day!
Valentine's Day is on February 14. It originated as a Western Christian feast day honoring an early Christian martyr named Saint Valentine and is recognized around the world as a significant celebration of romance and love.
Are you looking for the perfect gift for Valentine's Day?
Opals have been treasured throughout history and are especially relevant on Valentines Day. Filled with mystery and mystique these amazing gemstones are the perfect gift for your loved one on valentines day
We have five special combos for the Valentine's Day, choose one!!!
Heart Shaped Pendant and Earrings
Australian Opal Inlay Pendant and Earrings set in 925 Sterling Silver
20227944 from Graeme Blaiklock on Vimeo.
There are a number of martyrdom stories associated with various “Valentines” connected to February 14, including an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine of Rome for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century. According to an early tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer. Numerous later additions to the legend have better related it to the theme of love: an 18th-century embellishment to the legend claims he wrote the jailer's daughter a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell before his execution; another addition posits that Saint Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry.
Solid Dark Opal Pendant with Matching Earrings
Australian Black Opal 22 x 20 mm Pendant and White Opal 0.80 Carats Earrings set in 925 Sterling Silver
20227975video__2021-01-12-16-14-28 from Graeme Blaiklock on Vimeo.
The events are found in Bede's Martyrology, which was compiled in the 8th century. It states that Saint Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed.
On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he is supposed to have written the first "valentine" card himself, addressed to the daughter of his jailer Asterius, who was no longer blind, signing as "Your Valentine." The expression "From your Valentine" was later adopted by modern Valentine letters.
He is reported to have performed a miracles for his jailers forty-six member household (family members and servants) many of whom came to believe in Jesus and were baptized. John Foxe, an English historian states: "Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship."
These stories all tug at the heartstrings and simply remind us that the essence of love is sacrifice, to really go so much further to display love and affection is what love is really about.
Matched with Crystal Opal Earrings
Australian Black Opal 22 x 20 mm Pendant and Australian White Opal 0.80 Carats Earrings set in 925 Sterling Silver
20227937 from Graeme Blaiklock on Vimeo.
The Feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496 to be celebrated on February 14 in honour of Saint Valentine of Rome, who died on that date in AD 269. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centurie s when notions of courtly love flourished. There is a theory that apparently this date was set to be associated with the "lovebirds" of early spring.
In 18th-century England, Valentines Day grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). Numerous early Christian martyrs were all named “Valentine”. Valentine of Rome who was martyred in 269. Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna (now Terni, in central Italy) and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian in 273. And there is a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in history. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.
Light Opal with Matching Earrings
Australian White Opal 8 x 6 mm Pendant and White Opal 0.80 Carats Earrings set in 925 Sterling Silver
According to legend, in order "to remind these men of their vows and God's love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment", giving them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St. Valentine's Day.
Saint Valentine supposedly wore a purple amethyst ring, customarily worn on the hands of Christian bishops with an image of Cupid engraved in it, a recognizable symbol associated with love that was legal under the Roman Empire; Roman soldiers would recognize the ring and ask him to perform marriage for them. Probably due to the association with Saint Valentine, amethyst has become the birthstone of February, which is thought to attract love.
The greatest love is of course displayed in the Love Jesus Christ showed for all of us when He laid his life down as the ultimate expression of Love and the cross, while a symbol of His sacrifice is also a reminder of a love so incomparable it is eternally significant and should be remembered daily, not just on Valentines day, christmas, easter or any other holiday,
Light Opal with Full Spectrum Gem Colour and Matching Earrings
Australian Light Opal 3.10 Carats Pendant with 39 x G-H/Vs1-Si1 Diamonds Weighing 0.26 Carats and Light Opal 1.30 Carats Earrings set in 14 Karat Yellow Gold
20227951 from Graeme Blaiklock on Vimeo.
From the Book of John chapter 15
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
So this Valentines day remember that the greatest gift of love ever given is still available to you and me
Source:
Ralph Hammann - Wikimedia Commons - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63893794
Chordboard - Self, from material in my possession., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4310843