THE STORY AND CENTRAL THEME OF VALENTINE

THE STORY AND CENTRAL THEME OF VALENTINE!

February 14th of every year is commemorated in honour of Saint Valentine of Rome, who was a Catholic Priest. At a time in the 269 AD when the then Emperor Claudius sought men to join is army by force, due to the observable apathy put up by young men towards that service. In order to scale through with his plans, a decree was enacted forbidding young men to getting married. This was in the belief that men would soon get bored and then join the army.

However, Rev. Fr Valentine believed that marriage was sacred, an institution established by God Himself and a necessary tool for providing those who would have to be used by God in various capacities, including the army; to better the lots of mankind. It was on this solemn and heaven born conviction that he resolved to be wedding couples secretly, against the law of Emperor Claudius to the detrimental of his life.

This did not continue for long before it reached the awareness of the desperate Emperor, who in fury commanded Valentine's Arrest and imprisonment. As punishment, a trio sentence was passed on him: to be BEATEN, STONED and DECAPITATED. Saint Valentine died as a martyr, he tread on a heroic path; he chose to take a stand with God, His ideals and the well being of His people. This is the life we are called to live for Christ and for humanity.

While in prison, the jailer by Axterius permitted his blind daughter, Julia to always visit Valentine and to learn as much as possible from his wealth of knowledge before final execution. For Valentine was highly esteemed as a man of great wisdom, knowledge and intellectual capacities. Valentinus (his real Roman name) took advantage of her visitations to teach her lots of things, ranging from religion, morality, spirituality, faith in Christ and salvation, to Mathematics and other academic subjects. In the process of time, while responding to Julia's question regarding her desire to see the beautiful things he had said about God and the creatures, in relation to God's willingness to restore her sight, both of them clasped their hands together and burst into prayers. The result of that was the healing of her blindness, and she screamed: "I can see!" Prior to his execution, he wrote a letter to Julia, encouraging her to remain in the faith. The last line of the letter read: "Yours Valentine."

On February 14th, 270 AD, the letter was published (I mean it went widely public) and the date was set aside as lover's day, for couples and intending couples.

But let's consider the real ideal behind VALENTINE. I think this date has been grossly abused over the years. Valentine day is not a day for romance, sex and practice of eroticism of immorality. It also goes beyond friendliness, presentation of bouquets of pink and red flowers, expression of kindness and love as the case may be. These are all good deeds to be done, but the bitter truth must be told: they were not the particular reason for his death.


 The central theme for valentine day is: Ideology, Purpose, Belief, Strong Conviction, or Commitment to Truth. Valentine did not die for love; he died for what he believed. He died for the fulfilment of his purpose, his convictions about what God says about marriage. He preferred dying for the truth to compromising or taking side with the Emperor. His concepts and ideologies about life in general were more precious to him than his life, hence he could lay down his life for them rather than bowing to Claudius' decree. He stood by, and defended the light; shunning the raging darkness. This is what February 14th is all about. Ask yourself, "What am I willing to die for?" A man who has nothing to die for has no reason to live on. We too, in our various capacities, no matter how insignificant it may appear, must be readily willing to give up something for a course we believe and for the general good of the society. True valentine is when we are willing to give more of ourselves more than we expect from others to do for us. May we be true valentines in our homes, offices, churches, schools and everywhere we find ourselves. What is your belief? What do you stand for? What can you die for? What are you convictions? Valentine is finding something for which you can risk your comfort, freedom and even your life.

Tomorrow, I will post, THE LESSONS FROM SAINT VALENTINE.