Letter from the Pastor
-
February 13, 2022Are you ready for tomorrow? 97.6 million Americans celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day. It ranks third among the major national holidays for spending. Cupid is a very busy cherubim each February. Americans spend $23.9 billion on Valentine’s Day. Each person who celebrates spends about $175.41 per person. Men spend almost twice as much as women. Americans will spend $6.2B on jewelry, $2.3B on flowers (69% will be red roses), and candy $2.2B, $1B on greeting cards, and one can pick from 531 different types of Hallmark cards. Americans even spend $886M on their pets. And if you are feeling alone, there are over 2 thousand dating apps or websites.
Whenever I think of Valentine’s Day I remember in elementary school receiving those little paper valentine cards (now they call them vintage cards) and the Necco Wafer sweetheart candies with those sweet little sayings, pure sugar without any taste. Ah, what our kids are missing!
Sadly, the only time they call it "St. Valentine's Day" is when they're referring to the Chicago massacre on Feb. 14, 1929. In all other contexts it's just plain "Valentine's Day." The "St." in St. Valentine's Day that once gave it a uniquely Catholic significance has unfortunately disappeared.
The name Valentine was a common name; there are at least 3 maybe 4 different saints with the name Valentine. The saint we celebrate tomorrow was a third century Roman priest. He was martyred during the reign of Claudius II. He was arrested for helping Christians who were being persecuted by Claudius in Rome and for performing marriage ceremonies between young Christian couples. Newly married males could not be conscripted into the Roman army.
St. Valentine would not renounce his faith so he was sent to prison. The guard where Valentine was imprisoned listened as he preached day in and day out. As the legend goes, the guard, Asterius, had a daughter who was blind. He asked Valentine to hear her confession in which he did. Afterwards, Valentine put his hands over the girl’s eyes and chanted: “Lord Jesus Christ, enlighten your handmaid, because You are God, the True Light.” Immediately the little girl regained her eyesight. Because of this miracle, the guard and many of his family members converted to Christianity and were baptized. Upon hearing of the conversions, Emperor Claudius condemned all of them to death.
The night before his execution, Valentine wrote the young girl a note and signed it, “From your Valentine.” Valentine was then beaten with clubs and stoned and finally beheaded on February 14th, around the year 269. He was buried on the Flaminian Way and a chapel was later built over his remains. His skull can be venerated at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Some of his bones are in Glasgow, Scotland, and in Dublin as well.
We can have fun on this day, after this past year some may need time to take out that special person, (I’m staying home)! Seriously, we as Catholics need to remember how St. Valentine valued the sacrament of marriage so much that he was willing to risk his life to facilitate these important ceremonies for young couples. The love that comes into focus through these stories about his life is marked by faith, fidelity and sacrifice. These are the hallmarks of true love that bring about true happiness and joy associated with St. Valentine’s Day.
Prayer to St. Valentine
Dear Saint and glorious martyr,
teach us to love unselfishly and
to find great joy in giving.
Enable all true lovers to bring
out the best in each other.
Let them love each other in God
and in each other.
Amen .
Love is patient,
kind,
endearing,
beautiful,
hopeful,joyful,
exciting,
and ultimately....
given by God
