Happy Valentine’s Day wishes to everyone.
This is a big theme you will hear a lot this month. I look forward to the annual meeting of wondering husbands. We will meet again on Feb. 14, in the greeting card section at Bashas’ on the corner of Ellsworth and Brown roads. We all will be reading through those cards and wondering whether we should go for a bit of humor or for the sweet sappy card… Hmmm. I think we have scheduled our meeting for husbands for 3 p.m. this year. See you there, gentlemen.
This is what we do on St. Valentine’s Day, as we pick up some flowers and a card to remind that someone special she really is special, and we express our love for one another. It’s an ancient tradition now, reaching back for centuries.
It’s actually a Christian holiday with roots growing up from the love of Christ himself, a love expressed in his people, including Saint Valentine. Do you know there really was a Saint Valentine? The legend comes from a real Christian priest who lived in the late 200s AD, and there are many legends and folklore stories about him.
He was known for preaching of the love of Christ Jesus and the redemption Jesus brought for us all. In the name of Christ, Valentine, or Valentinus, was said to have performed many secret Christian weddings for couples who also believed in the love of Christ.
Those weddings were illegal to the Roman Emperor, and Valentinus was condemned for performing those weddings because married men were less willing to march off to war in the emperor’s army. So, Valentinus was arrested and jailed and told to deny his faith in Jesus. But he would not.
There is even a story of him healing the blind eyes of the daughter of a judge. In some versions of the story, he then fell in love with the healed young woman, and he left her love notes signed Your Valentine when he was martyred.
How much of that is true and irrefutable? I don’t know. We do know, however, there really was a Valentine who believed in and proclaimed the love of Christ for us all. We remember that love and compassion still today, and we celebrate it on the anniversary of Valentine’s death, Feb. 14. Come join us at Hosanna, as well, as we celebrate God’s love all year round.
For more information, call (480) 984-1414. Hosanna Lutheran Church is located at 9601 E. Brown Road.