Happy St. Valentine’s Day

Throughout my years at St. Mary’s Grade School in Monroe, Michigan, the tradition on St. Valentine’s Day was to bring Valentines to hand out to our entire class. These were small, beautifully cheesy sentiments (often zoo animals holding hearts) that we’d stuff into envelops with a flap-glue that, I recall, was nearly poisonous. Everyone would have a grocery sack “mail box” on their desk and each student (stunningly bedecked in our uniforms – light blue shirt and clip-on tie for the boys; plaid jumper and knee socks for the girls) would wander the aisles delivering “Be Mine” messages.

If you were sweet on someone, you’d agonize over which of the prepackaged 40-pack cards to assign; I think I used to save the chimpanzee for that year’s schoolgirl of my dreams. I was such a dork.

Who was St. Valentine anyway and why does he still dictate so many rituals of modern romance? There is a pressure on the day – roses? Chocolates? The perfect card? Dinner? Get-away weekend? How did Valentine become associated with romance?

Those who know me well are aware that I often bury sentiment under the cerebral. I don’t think I’m apt to disappoint with this post.

Some cursory research revealed that no one is absolutely sure just who St. Valentine really is. There are a number of laudatory souls whose history deserve note and admiration. From www.Catholic.org:

The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, a great illustrated book printed in 1493. [Additional evidence that Valentine was a real person: archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine.] Alongside a woodcut portrait of him, text states that Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius the Goth [Claudius II]. Since he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding any Christians who were being persecuted under Emperor Claudius in Rome [when helping them was considered a crime], Valentinus was arrested and imprisoned. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner -- until Valentinus made a strategic error: he tried to convert the Emperor -- whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn't do it, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate [circa 269].

So there’s a happy story to share over a candlelight dinner.

I should expand – according to more than one account, while awaiting execution, Valentinus, cured the blindness of his jailer's daughter. And other accounts detail that he was arrested for continuing to oversee the right of Christian marriage in direct defiance of Claudius.

Here's a link to a video that suggests there is a possible “Christianizing” of what was a previously pagan ritual – the Lupercalia.

Celebrated February 13-15 to avert evil spirits and promote healthy births and fertility, the Lupercalia featured naked men running through the streets of Rome whacking willing women with (I am such a fan of alliteration!) animal hide thongs. If struck, the women were to be imbued by the gods with easy pregnancies and pain-free births. Go figure.

One of the Valentines enjoys a special honor. First, I digress. If an individual is canonized as a saint, relics of the individual (bits of bone or other preserved body parts) are considered sacred and are part of a broad veneration for the person. The bits are not worshiped – they are a means to become closer to the holiness of the person and, consequently, God. In the words of St. Jerome: "We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore him whose martyrs they are." 

Nevertheless, this relic of this Valentine does stretch this humble writer’s sensibility. At the Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin in Rome, St. Valentine’s skull is on display wreathed with roses. The video gives more history about the Basilica and I’ve included a photo.

I expect that I’ve shared little new knowledge to some and a bit to a few – but this was new to me. What isn’t new is my hearty appreciation for love and those in love. Happy Valentine’s Day to my friends – be well, be good to each other, and savor the love offered each day.



Sources:
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=159
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Cosmedin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM_4uzhNaXU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupercalia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relic