While I do feel that the modern incarnation of Valentine’s Day is largely a commercially-driven outing for couples to feed the machine in the guise of romance, the actual history of the holiday is far more seditious. There was no actual St. Valentine in the Catholic faith, but rather it is thought that the festival of St. Valentine’s was to commemorate an infamous early Christian named Valentinius. Infamous, you ask? And what’s all this have to do with love?

Well, it would seem that Valentinius was well known for being a gnostic Christian, that is, a Christian who believed in secret teachings that were passed down from teacher to teacher , straight from God’s mouth to Paul’s ears. Though widely labelled heresy by the better organized (and more skillful) ecumenical Christians (ie. what turned into the Catholic church), gnostic beliefs have survived and even resurfaced in the last century with the discovery of a bunch of “lost” gospels. Its not quite as scandalous as the stuff in The Da Vinci Code, but interesting none-the-less.

Anywho, Valentinius was a big fan of conjugal love, holding it right up there with the staple rituals and beliefs of Christianity. And since there was already a Roman pagan festival of fertility around the god Lupercus in mid-February, it seemed completely natural for the Christians to eventually transform this festival into something a bit more Jesus-centered (well, as Jesus-centered as the 33-year-old Virgin could endorse). Thus, the festival seemed to beg for honoring good ol’ Valentinius, now St. Valentine.

Years later, we’re still celebrating with sugary treats, store-bought epistles, and vast flotillas of roses. For our part, Patrick and I bought each other DVD’s that we had wanted, I receiving Mirrormask and he receiving The Golden Girls: Season Three. We capped off the evening with a trip to our favorite out-of-the-way spot Yellow Dog Eats in Gotha, then back home to relax and watch a little television. Exciting? No, but that’s ok. It was quiet and quite delightful. A veritably fantastic day, in case you were wondering.

Tags: Christian, Patrick, Personal, Religion

Categories: Public

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3 Responses

1. 

   Marke:

   A reference to The Da Vinci Code??? I figured that you wouldn’t touch it since it was so hyped up….. like Jerry Maguire.

   16.02.2006 14:41

2. Bryan:

   I haven’t read it, just know enough to reference it. I think I’m going to see the movie, then read it afters.

   You liking the weather up north?

   16.02.2006 19:42

3. 

   Marke:

   The weather is beautiful! It was 58 degrees on Thursday and not a cloud in the sky.

   Of course, that’s much better than the 18″ of snow we received last weekend.

   17.02.2006 11:46