A Valentine's Day challenge

On Valentine’s Day, Americans typically buy 180 million roses, 36 million boxes of sweets and chocolate, and spend more than $14 billion on gifts*. Now compare that to what is enjoyed by poor women in third world countries. These women, often single mothers, work 15 hour days for less than ten pence an hour to ensure that first world lovers can buy flowers.

It comes as no surprise that Valentine’s Day is the one of the leading consumerist holidays, but what are its origins? Was it originally meant to be a day of overindulgence in roses and chocolates, or was meant to be a day of celebrating Christ’s love for us?

The beginning

Historical documents suggest that Saint Valentino was the Bishop of Terni, a town just outside Rome around 200 AD, making him one of the earliest Christians in Italy at the time.

He was known for his humility, his holy lifestyle, his love of humanity, his Christian zeal and the miracles he would perform in the name of Jesus Christ.

However, it was these very qualities that got him arrested by the Roman Emperor, Aurelian, during the merciless persecution against Christians. Throughout his imprisonment and torture, Valentino refused to renounce Christ, an act that led to his beheading on 14 February 273.

A festival is created

For over 200 years, the name Valentino was forgotten. It was not until 496 AD that the Feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope Gelasius I.

The feast was created as a response to the pagan festival, Lupercalia – a festival honouring the gods Pan and Faunus that was traditionally celebrated on 15 February with drunken orgies and carnal fertility rites. In an attempt to Christianise this festival, Pope Gelasius I christened Saint Valentine as the patron of lovers and marriage, which, in turn, created Valentine’s Day.

The true meaning

As is obvious from the excessive amount of money spent on Valentine’s Day, the feast has changed from a festival honouring the love of Christ, to a secular event based on material goods and has come to represent exclusive, romantic love.

BMS World Mission worker Alex Anderson states: “It is a far cry from the kind of inclusive, sacrificial love of the Lord Jesus Christ the early Christian martyrs wanted to imitate.”

If we are to truly emulate these martyrs, we need only but to follow the words of 1 John 3: 16 – ‘This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters’.

“As we celebrate Valentine’s Day this year,” says Alex, “let us reflect on the kind of Christian faith the ‘real’ Valentino demonstrated all those centuries ago in refusing to recant the name of the Lord Jesus, or bow down to man or possessions as God.”

Valentine’s Day 2012 is upon us. How will you be celebrating?

13/02/2012

*History Channel

Photo credit: outdoorPDK, Rennett Stowe, C.M. Dolsen and Texas.713