May we all be Blessed today and always with a deep commitment to serve one another with the same courage and charity of St.Valentine. Let our love for one another start with a deep love of God and so endure all hardships! On this day remember to show the ones you love how much they mean to you through acts of service and sacrifice.
Grant, I beseech Thee, O almighty God, that my husband Marco, who celebrates the heavenly birthday of blessed Valentine, Thy Martyr, may by his intercession be delivered from all the evils that threaten him. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
This post was copied from http://www.fisheaters.com/customstimeafterepiphany5.html
Feast of
St. Valentine
Feast of
St. Valentine
St.Valentine (Valentino) was a Roman priest who performed marriages in spite of Claudius II's law against such (Claudius believed that marriage was distracting to his soldiers, so outlawed it to them for a time). Fr. Valentine was martyred in A.D. 270 on the Flammian way, and at the site of his martyrdom, Julius I built a popular basilica. Other than this, little is known. Because two other St. Valentines share this Feast day ("Valentine" was an extremely common name for Christians as it has the same root as the word "valor"), often their stories are confused, but it is the Roman priest-martyr whom we honor during the liturgy. The relics of St. Valentine -- at least a great majority of them -- are, interestingly enough, in the Whitefriar Church associated with the Calced Carmelites in Dublin, Ireland. They were excavated from the Cemetery of St. Hippolytus, on the Triburtine Way in Rome in 1835 and were then given to Fr. Spratt, an Irish Carmelite, by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836. The relics, "together  with a small vessel tinged with his blood," were deposited "in a wooden case covered with painted paper, well closed, tied with a red silk ribbon and sealed with our seals and we have so delivered and consigned to him, and we have granted unto him power in the Lord, to the end that he may retain to himself, give to others, transmit beyond the city (Rome) and in any church, oratory or chapel, to expose and place the said blessed holy body for the public veneration of the faithful without, however, an Office and Mass, conformably to the decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, promulgated on the 11th day of August 1691," as the letter accompanying the relics reads. On this Feast Day, his relics are carried in procession, and a special Mass is offered for young people and lovers.
Because of his Nuptial Masses, he became the patron of lovers, the affianced, and married couples, and fortuitous to the priest's association with romance is the belief that halfway through the month of February, birds choose their mates, hence St. Valentine's association with birds, especially lovebirds and doves. Chaucer mentions this belief in his "Parliament of Foules":Customs For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's dayAlso fortuitous is the fact that red is both the color of Martrys and the color associated with love. Red roses are also a symbol of both martyrom and love, and had also always been associated with the Roman godess of love, Venus. Venus' son, Cupid ("Eros" in Greek), god of love, was originally depicted as a very handsome young man, but now as a winged putto bearing a bow and arrow with which to smite hearts with love. His image, along with the image of hearts he has pierced with his arrows, are ubiquitous symbols of romantic love on this day.  Oldest existing valentine, British Museum
St. Valentine's Day cards are a very ancient custom; one of the oldest extant "valentines," as such St. Valentine's Day greetings -- and the persons to whom they're sent -- came to be known, was sent in 1477 by Margery Brews to her fiancé, John Paston, and can be seen now in the British Museum. It reads:
Unto my right well-beloved Valentine John Paston, squire, be this bill delivered. To send a very Catholic valentine to someone you love, how about using a paraphrase of today's Collect as the basis for the text?
...with all the personal, mushy stuff at the bottom! For a romantic card for a spouse, some of the poetry found in Solomon's Canticle of Canticles -- a Book which uses marital love as a metaphor for God's love for His Church -- cannot be surpassed for inspiration.
As to foods, oysters, chocolates, champagne, and heart-shaped foods are all considered to be romantic. Note to men: Don't forget St. Valentine's Day. Even the least romantic woman appreciates being remembered on this lovely holy day. One needn't (shouldn't!) spend lavish sums and buy into the marketing nonsense that has become associated with all big Christian Feasts, but a single red rose is just as lovely as an $80 dollar dozen, and chocolates in a small box are as delicious as those in a large box; it is the thought that counts. And it costs nothing to tell her you love her... And a note to all: be sure to wish people "Happy Saint Valentine's Day" rather than just "Happy Valentine's Day." This will help bring the deeper meaning of the day into focus! |
Heart graphic on this page from Victorian Clipart
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