Saint Valentine's Day Blessings

Saint Valentine’s Story

I’ve done a bit of research on Saint Valentine and it is most confusing! The accounts are all over the place, with many saying it is all mired in complete legend. There apparently were several Saint Valentines. And the story about how this day got associated with love and sending notes is also varied. But it makes for interesting historical reading, if you have the time to go down this rabbit hole today. I finally settled on the above piece to link to. This is not a Catholic site, but I find they are respectful towards Catholicism.

And may we pray today for the virtue of chastity, a word which has all but been removed from this post-Christendom world.

Saint Valentine, pray for us!

In God's Image and Likeness...

We are fundamentally social creatures.  We are not meant to be alone.  The Father decided that Adam should have a "helper" and that they should bear children.  All sins are considered by the Church to be sins against the community, that is one reason we confess.  We are not even meant to keep our deepest and darkest secrets to ourselves.  This is how much we are woven into the fabric of humanity.  Many of our challenges in this testing ground which determines our eternal fate, called earth, involve how we relate to others, how much we love them....how much we are willing to put our own desires aside.  So why did God make us social creatures?  Because HE is fundamentally "social" in His own nature, three in one, Father, Son and Holy Ghost....because we are made in His Image and Likeness.  Its not a perfect comparison, but it is significant.

Happy Valentine's Day.  Saint Valentine, pray for us.  Lord have mercy on us for our sins against chastity.  May we, in our own small way, console Your Heart on this day by remaining pure in mind and body.  May we continue to be a witness to the virtue of chastity, especially to our young people.  Amen.