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Weekly Devotional

February 13, 2012

God’s Peace

John 13:31-35  ³¹ When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.  ³² If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.  ³³ Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'  ³⁴ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

            On Tuesday the world will celebrate Valentine’s Day.  Yesterday at church I had a conversation about this day and what is has (or had) to do with the church.  Valentine’s Day is also known as St. Valentine’s Day, but since 1969, it has not been on the official commemoration list of the Saints.  Part of the reason for this is that there are multiple “Valentines” that are said to be commemorated, and therefore the church cannot know exactly which saint we are commemorating.  The other issue is that the meaning of the day has changed and become commercialized about love (and these days more so about sexual relationships) instead of the commemoration of a martyred saint.  Below is some info I found on this day, and on the saint(s) that used to be celebrated.  One thing I found:  there is no recorded connection between St. Valentine and love.  It is a made up connection.  Imagine what the world would be like if we celebrated Jesus’ commandment above everyday?

(all below from Wikipedia)

Saint Valentine is the name of several (14 in all)  martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name "Valentine", derived from valens (worthy, strong, powerful), was popular in Late Antiquity. Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried on the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14, he was born on April 16. It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name. For this reason this liturgical commemoration was not kept in the Catholic calendar of saints for universal liturgical veneration as revised in 1969. But "Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome" remains in the list of saints proposed for veneration by all Catholics.^[

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Valentine the Presbyter is celebrated on July 6, and Hieromartyr Saint Valentine (Bishop of Interamna, Terni in Italy) is celebrated on July 30. Notwithstanding that, conventionally, members of the Greek Orthodox Church named Valentinos (male) or Valentina (female) celebrate their name on February 14, according to the Typikon of the Great Church of Christ (Τυπικὸν τῆς Μεγάλης τοῦ Χριστοῦ ᾽Εκκλησίας) Saint Valentine is not venerated on July 6, nor on July 30. In fact, there exists no Saint Valentine in the "Greek Orthodox Church.”

LEGENDS:

The Early Medieval acta of either Saint Valentine were expounded briefly in Legenda Aurea. According to that version, St Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer.

Since Legenda Aurea still provided no connections whatsoever with sentimental love, appropriate lore has been embroidered in modern times to portray Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail.

There is an additional modern embellishment to The Golden Legend, provided by American Greetings to History.com, and widely repeated despite having no historical basis whatsoever. On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he would have written the first "valentine" card himself, addressed to a young girl variously identified as his beloved, as the jailer's daughter whom he had befriended and healed . It was a note that read "From your Valentine."

In our prayers this week: Ann, Daniel, Barbara C., Scott S., Mike C., Brent S., Barbara (Pat’s sister), and Christine (Andrea’s friend)