February 11, 2010 by
The fact of the matter is no one truly knows who St. Valentine was and what exactly he did. Most people believe that he was a Priest who was jailed, beaten, and beheaded during the reign of Claudius the Goth. So what is it that qualifies him to help us find and celebrate love? Why St. Valentine? Why not St. Augustine? As I understand it he had quite a bit of experience with the ladies, surely he would be better suited to the role of Patron Saint of lovers.
To be fair, St. Valentine is the Saint of many things, not just love. He is the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, and young people.
Seriously, THE PLAGUE. How about a little swelling of the lymph nodes with your valentines chocolate? Not in the mood for burning fever? How about seizures? Or a simple Hello? I don’t understand it. Why St. Valentine?
Please don’t misunderstand, I have no objections to the holiday at all. I think its lovely to have a day set aside to remind us to show those we care about how much they mean to us. I love chocolate and flowers. Really, no opposition to the day itself. I’m just baffled over the chosen Saint. Literally next to nothing is known about St. Valentine, in fact, many people in the church believe St. Valentine wasn’t simply one man, but rather many men of the same name and religious zeal. So why do we have a day set aside for love that bears his name? How is the same man Patron Saint of both the plague and lovers? Also, bee keepers???
