Much like Charlie Brown waiting to be noticed by the little red-haired girl, it seems we have come to overlook and ignore the very source of “Valentine’s Day.” Yes, the living, breathing follower of Christ who died as a martyr seems to have been forgotten. Even his title of “Saint” has most often disappeared from February 14th. Somehow, his historic contribution to our shared faith has been transfigured into candy sales, cards, and romantic movies. Good grief!
Valentine of Rome, known as Valentinus in Latin, was a well-known saint at one time with a popular devotion dating back to the late 3rd Century. There exist several Valentines on liturgical calendars, but much of the details of his life are lost to us. As questions exist about the veracity and scope of what we know, Roman Catholics took him off their liturgical calendar in 1969 as part of their process of liturgical renewal and modernization. Some other denominations – including the ELCA – followed suit. (He is still considered a saint, but he does not have a dedicated feast day celebrated at worship; excepting any local commemorations.)
Despite some doubts, a consensus about THE Valentine’s life exists. Some argue the famed Valentine was a Roman priest and physician or healer of some kind. He died during a general persecution of Christianity led by Emperor Claudius II Gothicus in about 269 AD. His day of martyrdom, February 14th, became his feast day. (The Church tends to recognize the day of death as a day of new birth in Christ, so the day of death most often becomes the feast day.) Other candidates include a bishop killed during a similar persecution under Emperor Aurelian in 273 and a person only known by this name martyred with other Christians in Africa during an unspecified date that same century. Both later Valentines allegedly also died on February 14th, and some argue the bishop may even be the priest (just two versions of the same life). Valentine was a common name back in those imperial days, and there are about one dozen other saints with that name, as well as a Pope (reigning for two months in 827 AD). So with limited documentation, one can understand the confusion.
Mythic stories have been shared about the primary Valentine’s marrying people in secret, sharing a card with his jailer’s daughter signed “your Valentine,” healing a judges blind daughter (inspiring the judge to convert to Christianity), and other such things, but they do not seem strongly supported by evidence. Valentine’s life and death probably had little to do with romance, but more likely a love for God and neighbor; a love that always heals and brings new life. Valentine appears to have been beheaded for his faith, and his flower crowned skull is now venerated in a Roman Catholic cathedral. That is not a very romantic ending, but it did inspire many others toward faith in Jesus.
So, how might we best put the saint back into the day? Perhaps, we could strive to serve our neighbors somehow? How could we help heal others – in mind, body, or spirit? Families might seek to take the focus from romantic love and refocus on the mutual love that builds others up. It has become the practice of some to draw names and seek to do something nice for the person chosen. We might take some time to tell one another how we see God at work in them. We could do something nice for those in the healing profession or serving as first responders. We could even pray for the Church, especially the persecuted Church. No, I am not suggesting we need to avoid fancy dinners and chocolates entirely, but maybe there could be more to the day than some would have us believe.
Originally published in The Hub, a weekly email of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.
© 2021 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.
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