Ah, Valentine’s Day, of cupids and hearts and roses, red, of course. At first, celebrating this day was all about courtly love, where the lover makes himself more worthy by acting bravely. Since the middle ages it’s moved to romantic love, more along the medieval ideal of chivalry. Somehow, I doubt that unrequited love, comes in on this day.
The name “Valentine” is derived from valens, like valor: strong, powerful, worthy.
It’s a saint’s day in the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Greek Orthodox Church. In the Catholic Church, at one time we celebrated this as a feast day, a martyr who died on the Via Flaminia. That’s right. Not celebrating life, love or anything close. Just martyrdom, but what is martyrdom but the supreme act of love. We really know little about this person or persons. There could be three or more of these Valentine saints. And so, Benedict XVI made St Valentine’s Day, much like St. Christopher back in the eighties, a commemoration, not a feast day.
Still, I like that the name comes from the same root word as valor. I think that’s what you need for love. You need to be strong to withstand all the adversity that comes with a loving relationship. You need to be powerful in your belief that you belong together, that this is the path chosen and it is good. And you need to be worthy of love, all kinds of love that comes to you. So, I hope you have a great Valentine’s Day.