In the first half of February, when you look at the calendar and realize that Valentine's Day is coming, what are those things that come to your mind? Chocolate, roses, jewelry, your significant other? You disgust me. As a girl who had never had a date for this special day, I find myself trying not to think about those things. For the past 16 years, February 14th has been my sister's birthday. And I have good memories of Valentine parties and whatnot from childhood. Pink, red, & white, paper hearts, decorated shoeboxes, those nasty sugar hearts, punch-out cards with Disney characters on them, frosted cookies with pink sprinkles, little Cupids...
Ok, hold on. So how did Cupid manage to work his way in there? A pagan god who is kind of a jerk... somehow they managed to make him cute and put him as the symbol for a saint's day?
I've heard a story about St. Valentine. Something about how he was arrested (they never mention what for) and fell in love with his jailor's blind daughter. Of course, his love and devotion cure her. He dies in the arena, but not before signing his final love letter to her with, "Your Valentine".
It's a cute story I guess.
This year, I got curious. I wanted to know who St. Valentine really was, and I hadn't been expecting what I found. There are 3 St. Valentines in Christendom. One was martyred in Africa. One was the Bishop of Terni, and the other was a Roman priest.
Most of the stuff I read was about St. Valentine the priest. Here's my retelling of the information I found. As a disclaimer, I'm sorry if I've botched the details; however, this story seems much more accurate than the first one.He was arrested for performing Christian weddings for Christian couples. While in prison, awaiting his martyrdom, he preached Christ to his jailer as the Light of the World. The guy might have been a little bit cynical. Or perhaps he just needed a good excuse to believe in Valentine's God. Anyway, he challenged Valentine to pray to his "Light" for his blind daughter to recieve her sight. So Valentine prays. And Jesus, showing love even to a pagan family, heals. And the whole family comes to believe in the Lord.
Now that's a good story.
Three men who lived the love of Christ. And died for the love of Christ. They know what Christ had done for them. He loved them to death, and they, somehow, realized that they could do the same. But Valentine did not just give his life for the Kingdom of God, he showed the love of Jesus to people in his life.
That's definitely a love story that I can celebrate, as I continue to go about my day, watching girls pick up their flowers at the front desk and listening to Chicago on my headphones. I'm ok with being a hopeful romantic for today. After all, Jesus loves me to death.
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." 1 John 3:16
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