VALENTINE DAY
Every year, the fourteenth day of the month of February has millions across the world presenting their loved ones with candy, flowers, chocolates and other lovely gifts. In many countries, restaurants and eateries are seen to be filled with couples who are eager to celebrate their relationship and the joy of their togetherness through delicious cuisines. There hardly seems to be a young man or woman who is not keen to make the most of the day.The reason behind all of this is a kindly cleric named Valentine who died more than a thousand years ago.
It is not exactly known why the 14th of February is known as Valentine’s Day or if the noble Valentine really had any relation to this day. The history of Valentine’s Day is impossible to be obtained from any archive and the veil of centuries gone by has made the origin behind this day more difficult to trace. It is only some legends that are our source for the history of Valentine’s Day.
HISTORY…
The story of St. Valentine has two different versions - the Protestant and the Catholic one. Both versions agree upon Saint Valentine being a bishop who held secret marriage ceremonies of soldiers in opposition to Claudius II who had prohibited marriage for young men and was executed by the latter. During the lifetime of Valentine, the golden era of Roman Empire had almost come to an end. Lack of quality administrators led to frequent civil strife. Education declined, taxation increased and trade witnessed a very bad time. The Roman Empire faced crisis from all sides, from the Gauls, Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongolians from Northern Europe and Asia. The empire had grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. Naturally, more and more capable men were required to be recruited as soldiers and officers to protect the nation from takeover. When Claudius became the Emperor, he felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, will not make good soldiers. He believed that marriage made the men weak. So he issued an edict forbidding marriage to assure quality soldiers. Fast forward to mid-nineties of the previous century, we had an Indian Cricket Manager-Ajit Wadekar- who also reasoned on more or less same lines and forbade the wives/girlfriends from accompanying the touring Indian cricketers. These made the “Men in Blue” turn “red” in their face with senior Cricketers’ like Kapil Dev voicing their displeasure.
Coming back to St. Valentine…the ban on marriage was a great shock for the Romans. But they dared not voice their protest against the mighty Emperor. The kindly bishop Valentine also realized the injustice of the decree. How can any devout soul accept the ban which goes against the very tenets’ of the Almighty, who instituted the first marriage in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:18-24)? Christ too had attested this truth (Matt 19:4-6).
Seeing the trauma of young lovers who gave up all hopes of being united in marriage, Valentine planned to counter the monarch’s orders in secrecy. Whenever lovers thought of marrying, they went to Valentine who met them afterwards in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. And thus he secretly performed many marriages for young lovers. But such things cannot remain hidden for long. It was only a matter of time before Claudius came to know of this "friend of lovers," and had him arrested.
While awaiting his sentence in prison, Valentine was approached by his jailor, Asterius. It was said that Valentine had some saintly abilities and one of them granted him the power to heal people. Asterius had a blind daughter and knowing of the miraculous powers of Valentine he requested the latter to restore the sight of his blind daughter. The Catholic legend has it that Valentine did this through the vehicle of his strong faith, a phenomenon refuted by the Protestant version which agrees otherwise with the Catholic one. Whatever the fact, it appears that Valentine in some way did succeed to help Asterius’ blind daughter.
When Claudius II met Valentine, he was said to have been impressed by the dignity and conviction of the latter. However, Valentine refused to agree with the emperor regarding the ban on marriage. It is also said that the emperor tried to convert Valentine to the Roman gods but was unsuccessful in his efforts. Valentine refused to recognize Roman Gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully. This angered Claudius II who gave the order of execution of Valentine.
Meanwhile, a deep friendship had been formed between Valentine and Asterius’ daughter. It caused great grief to the young girl to hear of his friend’s imminent death. It is said that just before his execution, Valentine asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and signed a farewell message to her "From Your Valentine," a phrase that lived ever after. Valentine is believed to have been executed on February 14, 270 AD.
Thus 14th February became a day for all lovers and Valentine became its Patron Saint. It began to be annually observed by young Romans who offered handwritten greetings of affection, known as Valentines, on this day to the women they admired. With the coming of Christianity, the day came to be known as St. Valentine’s Day.
POETRY…
Do the Scriptures approve of the romantic love? Why, there is a Song Book in the Bible called the Song of Solomon which speaks lucidly about the joys of physical intimacy within the ambit of Holy Matrimony, squashing doubts if any, about the legitimacy of romantic love within marriage in the eyes’ of Holy God. In the very First Book of the Bible, the inspired writer turns poetic (kindly note poems originate from the depths of the heart) whilst describing marriage for the first time…
So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.-Genesis 1:27
In the same Book of Genesis, do not we see the first husband in Planet Earth also waxing lyrical about his bride…
“This one is bone from my bone,
and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
because she was taken from ‘man.’”-Genesis 2:3
Careful study of the Bible in original Hebrew will lead us to an unique expression of love with creative acrostic word play. Verses 10-31 in Proverbs 31 which contains the description of a perfect wife are all penned in perfect alphabetical order with each verse beginning with the alphabet of the 22 Hebrew alphabets ...all in perfect sequence (there are 22 Hebrew alphabets unlike 26 in English). Oh what a way to express the heart-felt appreciation of one’s spouse!!!
BEAUTY…
What is so beautiful about love that at once it sets the strings of our hearts in motion? For God is love (John 4:8), and whenever we shower love upon those around us, it elevates us (who are mostly selfish) to an ethereal level of being God-like.
Vis-à-vis other great virtues like faith and hope Apostle Paul puts love at a higher pedestal. Hey, how is that love towers above even faith, without which we cannot please God (Heb 11:6) and hope that sustains a Christian (2 Thess 2:16-17). The one and only reason is that LOVE IS THE ETERNAL BINDING FACTOR which keeps the Creator and His most prized creation…man… together for eternity. After passing away from this World or at rapture of the Church (if we are alive at that time), once we see the Lover of our souls with our own eyes where is the need for faith or hope to sustain the Divine-human relationship? Whereas love is required to keep that relationship going throughout eternity. Sadly is not the cosmic history witness to the fact that Mr devil despite seeing God and being in His presence for ages fell away due to lack of love for the Creator? That is precisely the reason the Holy Spirit is transforming us from the point of regeneration into Christ-like image. Not to fill Heaven necessarily with beautiful, Christ-faced personalities (incidentally Christ is referred to as one most beautiful among ten thousand people- Song of Solomon 5:10), but to make us like those people who would love Heavenly Father like the Son. For none so far has loved the Father like the Son did, giving up everything, suffering everything in order Father’s Name is glorified (John 12:27-28). Father’s loving response to Son’s implicit obedience, even if it meant temporary separation in the Cross? Let the Scripture take over…
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. –Philippians 2:9-11
Whilst on the subject of love, using the word LOVE as an acronym I intend to dwell on the first two letters vis-à-vis God-Man relationship (Love God is the first of the two commandments given by the Saviour- Mark 12:29-31) and the other two covering inter-personal relationship amongst fellowmen (Love your fellowmen is the Second of the two commandments).
L-oyalty: You truly love your Creator? Then you would be loyal to Him unto death being ever-willing to make even the supreme sacrifice of laying your life at the altar of martyrdom. Oh how many countless souls have and will give their all for the ONE who has given His all (even the last drop of blood- John 19:33-34) to them (Rev 7:9-14). Permit me to use some acrostic alliteration within an acronym. Who were those who were following Christ, for the Gospel states in Luke 14:25 that VAST crowds were following Him? An analysis of the Crowd (a word beginning with C) would reveal
a) Crisis- People in crisis having severe health problems (Matt 4:24-25)
b) Critical- The jealous Jewish religious leaders who couldn’t digest His soaring popularity amongst the masses’, followed Him just to see if He would commit at least a single mistake in the matters of adhering to the Mosaic Law, so that they can capitalize on that turning the tables against Him publicly (Mark 2:23-27).
c) Cuisine- There were always curious onlookers, as Jesus publicly performed the miracles, so much so after seeing one they followed Him for selfish reasons …for getting free food for instance (John 6:22-27)
d) Committed- These are the precious ones’ who loved Him and would go to any extent to stand with and by Him. A dissection of this committed crowd, would reveal that they were mostly those who were "condemned" as social outcasts (tax collectors, prostitutes etc) but were now "condoned" by the Saviour (Matt 9:9-12/Luke 19:1-10). Even those like Peter who were not considered as social scum, in light of the Master’s holiness confessed their sinfulness (Luke 5:8). Historically, is it not true that mostly only those who have been forgiven “much” have also loved the Saviour “much” (Luke 7:36-50)? Like for Yours truly on the day of his salvation, it was a case of his love overflowing so much for His Saviour, that the whole experience would be akin to some kind of Divine romance (Isaiah 62:5). Oh to sustain that honey-moon love for my Redeemer always (Jeremiah 2:2)!!!
It would serve every unsaved person (whatever be his/her social standing) well to realize that he/she (I say this with love and concern) is a sinner (Romans 3:23/Romans 5:12) in need of a Saviour. It is not our fault to be born as sinners’ but it would be our fault, if we die as one without ever accepting the Saviour who is as close to us as our own hearts and mouths (Romans 10:8-10). What is stopping you on this Valentine day from declaring your love for the One who is love (I John 4:8)? On accepting Him, when He places His warm loving presence of His Holy Spirit within your hearts (Romans 5:5), you would be able to love others, as He loves them.
Oh please understand the meaning of Jesus’ words’ properly in Matt 10:37-38/Luke 14:25-27 which may apparently appear to be at odds with the ones’ in Matt 19:1-9. He is not the one to play spoilsport in any marital ties of two committed Christian spouses. Out of personal experience I can testify that only when one loves the Lord perfectly, he/she would be in a position to love his/her spouse perfectly and get the BEST OUT OF MARRIAGE.
O-bedience: Father Abraham had to decide whether, he loved his beloved Issac (what a wondrous gift to aged parents) or the Giver of the gift, when it came to heeding the words of Master. Away went the grey father towards Mount Moriah in obedience to the Almighty’s instructions to sacrifice his precious offspring (without even telling his wife prone to hysterical reaction). Who is not moved, when the picture of an old father emerges in the mind’s eye climbing Mount Moriah with his son in tow? His heart pounding, creaky limbs shaking, mind filled with legitimate doubts about God’s goodness BUT DETERMINED TO OBEY, on the Mount of Sacrifice, Father Abraham virtually touched the summit of love for the Creator, when he lifted up the gleaming blade to plunge it into his own flesh and blood, only to be Divinely-stopped in the nick of time. And the Almighty’s response to this selfless act of obedience which did not mind giving up the most prized treasure…Father Abraham would now have “spiritual” descendents as many as stars in the skies and sand in the sea shore (Genesis 22:1-18). Mind you, it is easy to give-up sins, our love for Him would emerge for what it is, when He sometimes (out of His Sovereign wisdom) asks us to place our legitimate rights too on the altar, only to give them back (on we passing the test) at compounded rate of interest.
Now coming to inter-personal matters
V-ulnerable: Opps…truth be told, love exposes a tender heart to many a hurt. Imagine how Prophet Hosea must have been heart-broken, when his wife deserted him for lesser men…worse…even had children with them. Even then the shattered Prophet magnanimously accepts his wife towards the end (Hosea 3)… symbolic of spiritually adulterous Israel being accepted by God. As love exposes us to hurts, should we then gravitate towards “play it safe” hard-core indifference? NAY. For that would mean taking the risk of stemming the flow of oh-so-precious warm Divine love through our hearts. As somebody put it “Nothing costs more than loving, except not loving”!
E- njoy: We would always enjoy the presence of ones’ we love for they bring along warmth and SECURITY, which we so much crave for. Say Christian, are people feeling “warm and secure” in your presence. A demanding, domineering, dogmatic, demeaning demeanor would destroy relationships, more so marital relationships. Remember, Christianity is not only about “Christ living in us but LIVING THROUGH US”. On this Valentine Day, let us resolve to love our spouses as Christ loves us (I John 4:7).
Here’s wishing you a HAPPY, ENJOYABLE, ROMANTIC VALENTINE DAY!!!
Suresh Manoharan
