Can anyone here help me out? I'd like to put a little article in the newspaper about the origin of Valentine's Day, but I am reading conflicting information. Does anyone know something I can write? PS I thought of tying it in with a comment about the movie, "The March of the Penguins".... but haven't got any thoughts yet.I welcome any thoughts. Diane
Dear Diane,Years ago I heard that Valentine was a man who was imprisoned for his faith and wouldn't recant. While he was in prison, it is said he wrote letters to his fiance. This would correspond with Valentine's Day.I have heard conflicting accounts of Valentine also. It is very possible that there was more than one Valentine. It is also possible that the enemy, just like he did with Patrick, has perverted the truth.In Christ,GaryE
Saint Valentine there are three of them, if you go to http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15254a.htm They have an excellent article on it. The trouble is traditions, legends, incomplete records, and time itself.
Thank you CyberCarbon and Gary for your help. So far I have come up with this: Valentines is for the BirdsIn my early school years we had a Valentines Days custom that has since been dropped (thankfully). After collecting our valentines, we would spread them out on our desks and count them. The boy and girl with the most got to be the Valentine king and queen for the day. That custom had more to do with popularity than with love and devotion. As far as I’m concerned, it was “for the birds”. Actually, Valentines Day got started with the birds. It arose out of a belief in the Middle Ages that the birds began to pair in mid-February. February 14 was therefore consecrated to lovers as an occasion for writing letters and sending lovers' tokens.So Valentines Day really is for the birds! That reminds me of the award-winning documentary, “March of the Penguins”. This is an amazing story of loyalty and devotion, driven by a powerful instinct that has preserved the penguin species for countless generations in the most inhospitable climate on earth. During the breeding season bird pairs instinctively stay loyal to each other and their offspring, even though it could cost their lives.St. Valentinus of old was motivated by choice, not by instinct, to risk death rather than renounce his devotion to God. His name has been attributed to Valentines Day, probably because of a legend that he wrote letters to his beloved while in prison. Apparently he was martyred on February 14. It seems like our Valentines customs have little to do with either birds or St. Valentines. It has more to do with how we perceive love, and then having a designated day on which to express it. Diane
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