So, here we are upon another holiday. Guess what???? Yup it's that time again. HISTORY LESSON!!!! This one is dedicated to Ali. :) You know you love it. Get it...day about love and I said you loved it? No? Not Funny? Sorry - Don't slap me.
I get why so many people despise Valentine's Day. I do. Really. I promise. When one stops to think about it, the holiday is really a consumeristic idea of what love is supposed to be. Valentine's Day is now a multi-BILLION dollar money maker for florists, candy makers, card makers, jewelry stores and anyone else trying to cash in on the holiday. Who didn't go to the stores looking for that after Christmas bargain only to be confronted by pink and red hearts everywhere? (OK, in reality, I don't mind so much because I adore the Russell Stover raspberry creme hearts.....mmmmm). Florists in the US sell about 198 million red roses on V-Day. This boosts the bottom line for the florists where this one day alone constitues approximately 25% of their annual revenue. Candy sales for V-Day ranks fourth on the list of holidays behind Halloween, Easter, and Christmas. As for Holiday Card sales - well that is second on the list *just* behind Christmas cards.
There really isn't any solid information of the origins of Valentine's Day. But there is general consensus. One legend credits the creation of V-Day to the holiday the ancient Romans celebrated known as festival of Lupercalis/Lupercalia. This festival is a fertility celebration that was observed annually on February 15. But the rise of Christianity in Europe saw many pagan holidays being renamed for and dedicated to the early Christian martyrs. Lupercalia didn't escape unscathed. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius turned Lupercalia into a Christian feast day. He proclaimed February 14 to be the feast day in honor of Saint Valentine, a Roman martyr who lived in the 3rd century and was martyred on February 14th.
So who was this Valentine dude and why was he martyred? Well, let me tell you (because if I had a Delorean and a Flux Capacitor, we'd be taking a field trip). DISCLAIMER: The Catholic Church officially recognizes three saints that were all martyred named Valentine or Valentinus, so we are just going to go with the one that lived in the time of Claudius, K? Good.
Imagine you are in the Roman Empire... life is good and you are conquering the world. Ok, maybe not YOU, but you get me, right? Well, like all good things, it must end, and the end of the Roman Empire is near. The Empire grew too large for the soldiers of the Empire to defend. Because of this, Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. How very Friar Lawrence from Verona of him.
Since no one can really keep a secret, it wasn't long before "the friend of lovers" was discovered and Claudius II had him arrested. While awaiting his sentence in prison, Valentine was approached by his jailor, Asterius. It was said that Valentine had some saintly abilities and one of them granted him the power to heal people. Here the story varies wildly by faith. Catholics believe that Valentine restored the sight of Asterius' daughter, while the Protestant refute this fact. Anyhoo, whatever happened there, a strong friendship formed between Valentine and his jailors daughter. It is said that just before his execution, Valentine asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and signed a farewell message to her "From Your Valentine." The phrase that will live in infamy and tourture the lonely hearts club.
In 1916, Lily Hardy Hammond wrote, "You don't pay love back; you pay it forward." In the Garden of Delight (p. 209). Wise words. I think this year we should start a new trend for Valentine's Day. Instead of using the day to tell the person (or people) that are close to you that you love them - something you should be doing everyday anyway - and showering them with gifts for no apparent reason really, why don't we pay the love we get forward?
It's easy to do. We all know someone who has suffered a loss of some sort over the last year or so. Why don't we reach out to them? Fork over that dollar to the unfortunate soul on the corner. Smile at someone who looks like they are having a rough day. We are all fortunate in our own way to have love in our lives...let's pass it on to someone who doesn't or has forgotten.
So with that being said, to all of you who took some time out of their day to read my ramblings, I love you and appreciate you all for being in my life.
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