Watch out! Paper hearts and giant bags of candy are overflowing shelves at our local grocers. Valentine’s Day is today and we wanted to dive into its Catholic history. We promise it will be worth it.
During the early Church, the Lord saw fit to sanctify most things Roman - and the Roman understanding of love was definitely in need of sanctification. The pagan feast of Lupercalia was a day when Roman men and women would celebrate love through bizarre, lewd public ceremonies with random partners. On February 14, while this festival was taking place, Emperor Claudius II executed two Catholic men named Valentine two years in a row. In the 5th Century, the Pope changed Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day honoring the love of these martyrs who laid down their lives for God. And the hope was this love would ultimately be expressed and celebrated in Christian marriage, replacing the lewd pagan ceremony.
The Pope’s plan worked! Over 1,000 years later, Shakespeare mentions Saint Valentine's Day in Hamlet, where he references the belief that if two people meet on the morning of Valentine's Day they will get married. Even today, we are in the middle of celebrating National Marriage week in the USA. So, St Valentine is a special intercessor in marriage. This Valentine’s Day, you can call out to him for help in your marriages too. Or, attend daily Mass and ask for his intercession.
St. Valentine Pray for us.
"Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired" ~St. Valentine.