Thoughts on Valentine's Day

How do you do.

   It's February, the shortest month on the calendar and the only one to have an extra day during Leap Years. Half way between Christmas and the First Day of Spring, which means Winter will soon be over. In this sense, winter time depressions may come on but at one time there use to be four holidays in this month: Abraham Lincoln's Birthday (12), George Washington's Birthday (22), Ground Hog Day (2), and St. Valentine's Day (14), plus the religious feast day of Marde Gras and fast day of Ash Wednesday. Today, the number has shrunk  as the birthdays are no longer celebrated and instead we have President's Day. But if one goes to a store at any time, he'll not find something for President's Day but instead see something for St. Valentine's Day.

  When people think of St. Valentine's Day, they'll think of hearts and love: the image of some boy giving a girl candy or flowers, asking to be his valentine, as well as the increase of romantic dinners and endless chick flicks on the television. Actually, there's more to the day. This was originally a feast day for a Christian martyr, which makes the current way of celebrating sad. Here's the background:

  In the Third Century, the Roman Empire was experiencing a crisis as famines and wars with barbarians, plus humiliating defeats at the hands of the Persians. Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, some improvements were found, though the emperor could do nothing against a plague. In this time, a man named Valentinius was a priest in, though there was a bishop also named Valentinius. Which of the two is St. Valentine is hard to determine because most of the contemporary records were destroyed a century later during Diocletian's persecutions. Thus, there is little information known of the man, regardless. The traditional year of the man's death is February 14, 269, yet we do not know how old he was when he died. We do know that he was executed, possibly for refusing to recant his allegiance to Christ. It is also believed that he was killed on orders of the Emperor, whom he attempted to get to embrace Christianity. Most people are familiar with the legend of him defying the Roman Emperor and marrying people, largely to keep husbands from going to war. Another legend says that he prayed for the healing of the jailer's daughter and signed a note to her that said "Your Valentine."
   It's possible the legends may have historic value as the Roman Empire was experiencing wars in 269. Exactly how much legends can be factual has always deluded historians, especially with the lack of verifiable sources.
  We think there was one St. Valentine yet there may have been more than two, especially as Valentinius, or Valentine, was a common name in Classical Antiquity. One of the suggested men was a priest in Rome while the other was Bishop of Iteramna. Assuming he was not at the bottom of Roman society, Valentinius would be one part of his name. The Ancient Romans practiced a naming method called the tria nomina (literally "three names") which consisted of the "Praenomen", the "Nomen Gentilicium" and the "Cognomen", the last was mostly used by aristocrats. Another saint, Augustine of Hippo, was born as Aurelius Augustinius, for example. Valentinius would have been the nomen in his name. What his praenomen is or his cognomen is a mystery. Based on that alone, it is easy to believe in the multiple persons. There are some people who do believe that the priest in Rome and the Bishop of Iteramna were the same man, which can lead him being named by historians as Valentine of Iterarmna. However, there is another St. Valentine in Africa, though not much is known of the man. Much of this is conjecture.

  The Diocletian Persecutions in the Fourth Century, like I said, destroyed a lot of records on the man. Anything information was preserved by the Church in the best way in can, though he was almost forgotten in centuries that came. It wasn't until twenty years after the Fall of Rome that Pope Gelasius I established a feast day for the recently canonized saint. He is labeled as the patron saint of bee keepers, marriage, and love, the last may explain why it's trivialized on this day.

  One thing of a fact was in the time period that Valentinius was alive, the Romans celebrated a different holiday on February 15. This festival was called Lupercalia, named after the Roman god, where they would make sacrifices consisting of goats and a dog and then have men in februa journey the streets and whip people near by (especially women as it was believed to increase the chances of pregnancy). According to americancatholic.org, the festival also featured a lottery where men would select a woman to be his concubine for a whole year (in other words, guys, for one whole year, you could have a girl in your possession for sinful loving). The festival was already falling out of favor with the Roman public by the time St. Valentine was killed, mostly done by the dregs of society, and Pope Gelasius I had it abolished forever. Rather St. Valentine's Day currently has things similar with Lupercalia or not is debatable, while there is no evidence that the Pope was replacing the festival with the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. While so many old pagan traditions have been assimilated into the Christian festivals, it doesn't mean it happened all the time. For example, you note that in Lupercalia they don't have men give candy to women or cardboard hearts. The only thing the two would actually have in common would be the sex: since when lovers are in love they feel the need to express it more. Kind of sad when you think of it as the only time to have sex when it can be done at anytime of the year.

   So, how was it celebrated? During the Middle Ages, St. Valentine's Day was just another feast day on the calendar. People in Europe woke up, went to Mass, had large meals, made devotional prayers before bed and that was it. Quite frankly, that should be the way the day be celebrated, assuming it were still a religious holiday (if your Church does daily Mass, be sure to drop by, unless it's on a Saturday). Now, a few isolated acts of love would happen now and then, but not enough to make it a feast day of it. It really wasn't until English poet Geoffrey Chaucer came along that it was associated with love. In his poem, Parlement of Foules, Chaucer wrote these lines concerning the feast day: 

For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

  At the time of Chaucer, the calendar was getting behind the seasons and it was becoming obvious that winter holidays were happening in the spring. Thankfully, the new Gregorian Calendar was introduced, though England wouldn't adopt it until 1750. Also, the precession of equinoxes had changed between Chaucer's time and now. This explains the reason why he has birds mating in the month of February instead of May. Following Chaucer, many famous men of letters wrote sonnets on St. Valentine's Day. 

  Now, after this, I am calling it St. Valentine's Day on purpose yet the Catholic Church no longer has it on the calendar of the feasts of saints. Due to the aforementioned lack of details on St. Valentine, the Church removed the feast day in 1969. Thus, it has become a secular holiday where religion can be optional in the celebration. Fortunately, St. Valentine wasn't removed from the canon.
  By removing it from the calendar, quite frankly, it defeats the purpose of the day. Instead of being a devotional day in the month, St. Valentine's Day is now something that trivializes love and makes it to be something bought and sold.

  So how did we go from that to what we got now? Near the end of the 18th Century, a British magazine called The Young Man's Valentine Writer published sentimental poems that men who could not create a poem could use. Most were raunchy and rowdy, but they were meant to be given in secret. More chaste sayings came in during the Victorian Era. This began the start of St. Valentine's Day going corporate as card companies created cards with pre-existing sayings or blank were sold. Lace and ribbons were added also. Since the introduction of chocolate in Europe by the Spanish, sweets has also become associated (which can be frustrating after having them through Christmas and we should now fast until Easter). These sweets didn't just mean chocolate but also cake. As to the heart, that was one of the few things borrowed over from the Middle Ages, along with the Antiquity belief that the human heart is the place of emotions and intellects, as well as the center of the body. Today, we know of the heart as the muscle that pumps blood through our bodies and all the emotions we have are generated in the brain (yet the heart can effect what the brain generates). Flower stores are also capitalizing on the day, as is the jewelry shops, and now we have the e-cards on the internet. I am positive that, like St. Nicholas, who inspired Santa Claus, St. Valentine would certainly be appalled at a day celebrating his death with cards, candy, and flowers. 

   Given the way St. Valentine's Day was originally founded, I do find the way it's celebrated today in the US to be sacrilegious, even if it's not a religious holiday anymore. This day, being of a man who died for his beliefs, and yet most people are using the time just to express love is enough to make him spin in his grave. For one reason, there are plenty of times in the year to give roses, poetic cards, or candy to girls so why wait for that one particular day of the year? One can also argue on why be cautious of the earth on Arbor day when one can do the same all year long, or why honor our mothers only on Mother's Day when it can be done all year long?

   There are others who do believe that celebrating St. Valentine's Day in this fashion is not appealing and that is why Single Awareness Day was invented. People observe it for any reason and I commend them.
   As to love, it is not something to be made a profit on like anything else. Love is actually something that is given and received mutually. Best way of describing love is in Corinthians: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth" (Corinthians 13:4-6. In our secularized and consumer based society, there is hardly any love shown in Valentine's Day. I cannot begin to list how many times there are people of both sexes who post pictures of their sweethearts or spouses, calling them the best thing and how they are glad to have them. It's a form of boasting and all that does is promote envy among other couples. Then there is the self-seeking motive in modern definition of love. How many times must we hear of women needing to follow their heart in their quest for love, which is the worst thing to do anyway. And there is also the case of guys who give love just so they can get sex, another self-seeking move, which is even done by married men with their wives. We have also used love to do dishonor to others (teenage girls dating a guy to get at their parents, for example). Through the romance novel, soap opera shows, and the chick-flick movies, we see examples of love delighting in evil as well. The reason is because each follows the same plot formula: the girl has problems finding the right guy, is often a career woman, meets a guy is either looking for a hook up or some jerk who deserves to go to jail, and they meet up, spend some time treating each other like objects, hear their friends encourage them to be together, go out a few dates, have sex, have some drama after, and then realize they are right for each other in the end. While one or two may have something good to offer, on the whole they lack one necessary element: love. Instead, we get what is described in Meet Joe Black as "an aimless infatuation that for the moment you feel like indulging."
   So, if anyone wishes to share the love on this date, have at it. It can be done on any day besides  Valentine's Day: one could exchange chocolate in Easter and Halloween, flowers on Mother's Day and Christmas, and one can have dates during the patriotic holidays like Memorial Day and Independence Days, and there is nothing like a midnight kiss on New Years. If anything, St. Valentine's Day should be a day to remember a man who died for his beliefs.