Be His Valentine

The high holy day of Hallmark is upon us! The Feast of Saint Valentine (Valentine’s Day).

In truth, it’s not the Feast of the man, Saint Valentine. In 1969 the Church removed Valentine from the calendar, because we know so little about him. There are a number of legends pointing to different men by the name, though they all faced a martyr’s death, laying down their life for the Lord. The Church does still recognize him in the Roman Martyrolgy, as his name still appears on February 14th.

The Skull of St. Valentine

Among the many stories about him there is one that is widely held; that he was a Bishop (or Priest depending who you ask) who was arrested for his efforts to convert folks to Christianity. He befriended the jailer’s daughter, and taught her about Jesus. On the day of his execution he left her a goodbye note, and signed it “Your Valentine”.

Saint Valentine is one of those Saints whose body parts are reported in multiple Churches throughout and around the city of Rome. His skull can be found at Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, whose portico also houses “The Mouth of Truth”, made wildly popular by the movie Roman Holiday. Whatever the true story is, and whenever he actually lived and died…and whoever’s skull that really is, the story of Valentine speaks to all of us across all of time and history about love: but not Hallmark’s version of love.

The Mouth of Truth

Shouldn’t we all strive to be Jesus’ Valentine? Valentine (all of them), and all the martyrs of our Church, hold one commonality across the board: they loved Jesus so much they would lay down their lives for him. We are called to each do the same!

Christian Marriage provides a way to lay down your life for Jesus through the experience of laying down your life for your spouse. Marriage is “the paradigmatic example” of the love of the Trinity in the world. Two persons, who give themselves wholly and completely to the other in a mutual exchange of self-sacrificial love. That’s the love of marriage. That’s the love of the Trinity. That’s the love that Jesus pours out for us on the cross.

In Holy Orders the man to be ordained lays down on the floor during the Liturgy: a powerful expression of his intent to lay down his life for the Church, and those who he serves. In this solemn and yet simple act, he enters into his own marriage to you and I who they serve.

In taking on the vows of Religious Life, a Sister or Brother embraces a life totally and completely given to and for the Church in poverty, chastity, and obedience. They lay down their lives for the one they love.

How do each and every one of us lay down our lives for Jesus every day? How do we grow in love with him enough that such a decision is an attractive one in the first place?

Since Valentine’s Day is a day for lovers, look at the example that is found in their relationships. When two people meet and are courting, they enter into a relationship of communication that is simple, and non-committal. Over time that relationship becomes deeper, and forms of communication become more and more dynamic. Communication builds trust, which leads to vulnerability, which is the defining benchmark of true intimacy. If it leads to Marriage they come together sacramentally, and then physically.

It’s the same with us and Jesus. Our prayer lives can be like that courting couple: casual and non-committal. Over time that relationship grows through prayer (communication) and the same pattern unfolds. Forms of prayer (communication) become more and more dynamic. Communication builds trust, which leads to vulnerability, which is the defining benchmark of true intimacy. In the Eucharist we come together with Jesus sacramentally, and physically: in a sense two become one, as we go out into the world as the living presentation of the risen Body of Christ. We come together in communion with one another, and with Christ as the head of the body.

Each week we receive the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist, and if we don’t work on- and grow in- our relationship with him throughout the rest of the week we become like a couple who acts like they are married but don’t bother growing together outside of their Wedding Day!

This Valentine’s Day let’s all take time to recognize whose Valentine we want to be first and foremost: and may all of us – in whichever vocation we have embraced- find in our lives the face of him who we love, and who first loved us!

Happy Valentine’s Day!