I thought that Valentine’s Day was actually named after a saint and should be St. Valentine’s Day. When did everyone drop the “St.” part? Media? Hallmark?
Poor St. Valentine doesn’t get much respect does he? He was even dropped from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 by the Catholic Church. That means we do not celebrate St. Valentine’s feast day in our liturgy here. Some places associated with St. Valentine probably still celebrate his feast. The reason St. Valentine was dropped in general was because no one knew much for sure about him except that he was buried on February 14th. Instead, on that day the universal Church celebrates St. Cyril, monk, and St. Methodius, bishop–not nearly as glamorous or romantic as St. Valentine, but much more well known. The Church does not deny that Valentine was a saint or that he existed, but it just does not know enough about him to have him on our calendar. Of course, there are some legends, but most of these seem to have come about in the last couple of centuries. What seems to be true is that St. Valentine was a priest and martyr in the third century of the Church. Whether he helped marry young couples against an unfair Roman law or wrote and received secret notes or gave chocolates or flowers to someone, we’ll never know.
So, I don’t believe I’d be too upset at the media or the greeting card manufacturers in this case. The feast of St. Valentine’s has evolved quite a bit over time, especially the past 200 years, and it has become a thing of its own. However, it is true that the day we celebrate is named after St. Valentine, and it is surely a noble thing to keep a Christian focus on this day that we celebrate love. Certainly, true love was revealed to us by Jesus through his life and by his passion on the cross. That love is still with us, and martyrs like St. Valentine give witness to it. This Lent, we should not forget acts of love along with our penitential acts. We too should give witness to the love of Christ by doing things like giving to the poor, helping those in need, and reaching out to the lonely. This is the best way for us to keep the “St.” part of our Valentine’s Day (and our Lent too).
-Fr. Greg
