Today is a day reserved for the color pink, candy, flowers, hallmark cards, a special date night, and the sharing of love between 2 people (or if you are a child in school, the obligation to share your candy with the whole class). That is all well and good, but these things do not reveal who Saint Valentine truly was.
What the Hallmark cards won't tell you is that Saint Valentine was a holy troublemaker -- he was imprisoned, beaten, and brutally executed.
Valentine's day wasn't always about candy, flowers, and pink hearts...
Valentine was a priest in Rome in the 3rd century AD. He was known for assisting Christians persecuted under Claudius II. After being caught marrying Christian couples (a big no-no, for they were sought after as "rebels" to Rome) and helping Christians escape the persecution, Valentine was arrested and imprisoned. It is very plausible that it is from these actions that the romantic elements of Valentine's day emerged -- but far more than a romantic, Valentine was a revolutionary.
There are many legends of Valentine -- that he courageously refused to pay homage to the imperial gods, being faithful only to Christ, and that he resisted war, subversively marrying young couples preventing the men from going to war (the emperor Claudius believed unmarried men made better soldiers so married men were spared the horrors of war).
Although Emperor Claudius originally liked Valentine, he was condemned to death when he tried to convert the emperor. Eventually, Valentine was beaten with stones, clubbed, and, finally, beheaded on February 14, 269 (or 273, the year is debated but somehow we all agree on February 14).
In the year 496, February 14 was named as a day of celebration in Valentine’s honor.
But here is one of my favorite stories -- Valentine became friends with the daughter of his captor. Just before he was executed, Valentine healed the blind daughter of the jailer, restoring her vision -- a dazzling act of enemy-love. As the legend goes -- on the day of his execution, he left the jailer's daughter a note signed: "Your Valentine" ... undoubtedly sparking what has become a classic Valentine's tradition around the world -- of sending little notes to people we love (or people we would like to love).
Perhaps even more faithful to Valentine would be to write a note to someone who might be an enemy or who might be a most unlikely, subversive friend. Try that today. And sign it as he did, "Your Valentine" -- I'm sure it will make ole Valentine smile down on you... or blow you a kiss from heaven...for he was a revolutionary lover of people...a holy trouble-maker.
A Prayer for Holiness of Heart
By Howard Thurman
(United Methodist Hymnal, No.401)
Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart.
Here is the citadel of all my desiring,
where my hopes are born
and all the deep resolutions of my spirit take wings.
In this center, my fears are nourished,
and all my hates are nurtured.
Here my loves are cherished,
and all the deep hungers of my spirit are honored
without quivering and without shock.
In my heart, above all else,
let love and integrity envelop me
until my love is perfected and the last vestige
of my desiring is no longer in conflict with Thy Spirit.
Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart. Amen.
(My thanks to Shane Claiborne for providing some information which I have shared here in this post)
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