Who was St. Valentine?

St. Peter Orthodox Church, Bonita Springs, FL

The commercialization of Valentine’s Day had me asking : Where did Valentine’s originate? Who is cupid and is he someone’s sidekick or a main character? I Googled and searched the history as I forgot about Cupid, who I will learn more about next year.

This St. Valentine fellow enamored me without Cupid’s arrow.  St. Valentine was beheaded. Really? Why do we have a St. Valentine’s Day because a beheading does not sound like love.  He was love.

The Saint had a reputation as a peacemaker, and one day while cultivating some roses from his garden, he heard a couple quarrel very vigorously. This shocked the Saint, who then cut a rose and approached the couple asking them to hear him. Even though they were dispirited, they obeyed the Saint and afterwards were offered a rose that blessed them. Immediately the love returned between them, and later they returned and asked the Saint to bless their marriage. Another tradition says that one of the charges against Valentine was that he did not adhere to the command of the emperor which stated that men who had not fulfilled their military obligations were not allowed to marry; meanwhile the Saint had blessed the marriage of young Christian soldiers with their beloveds.

St. Valentine was a man of faith and lived the word of God as illustrated in 1John 3:16-18 (AMP):  ¹⁶ By this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved us]. And we ought to lay down our lives for the believers. ¹⁷ But whoever has the ^[a]world’s goods (adequate resources), and sees his brother in need, but has no compassion for him, how does the love of God live in him? ¹⁸ Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words].

The above scripture teaches about love and defines it . It is necessary to share love through our actions and helping others in need. How do you share your love with others each day?

Let us pray…Father I pray that I would not love merely in theory or in speech but in deed and truth, in sincerity.   Adapted from 1John 3:18, The  Everyday Living Bible

To learn more about St. Valentine, go to: http://stpeterorthodoxchurch.com/who-was-st-valentine/ or visit the Source: Mystagogy.