By now, the average guy has bought a card and a box of chocolates for his sweetheart without giving a second thought to the origin of St. Valentines Day. St Valentine was a priest who met his unfortunate end at the sharp end of a guillotine on February 14, sometime in the third century.
The practice of celebrating this day as a day of love actually transpired centuries later. It seems there was a pagan Roman festival dedicated to the god Lupercalia. On this day a young man would draw the name of a woman in a lottery of sorts and would keep that woman as a sexual companion for the year. After some eight hundred years, the Pope influenced a change in this custom.
He changed the lottery to have both young men and women draw the names of saints whom they would emulate for a year. The patron saint of this new festival was St Valentine. For Roman men, however, the day continued to be an occasion to seek the affections of women and it became a tradition to send messages of admiration that included Valentines name. The idea of choosing a spiritual leader to emulate for a year bears investigating further. To emulate Mother (now Saint) Theresa, for example could have a significant impact on a person that could affect the way they view the less fortunate. The greatest spiritual leader to emulate, in my opinion, is Jesus Christ. The popular slogan, What Would Jesus Do? gives us one way to be like him in word and action. Not only will it make us better people, emulating Christ could be the fastest way to improving your love life. After all, he is the lover of our souls and no one has demonstrated this love more powerfully.
This church message is sponsored by these concerned businesses and citizens, listed below - all interested in a better community and world.
