A Valentine for ALL AGES

I dedicate today's post to MY HUSBAND. How good it feels to write that (every time!).

I ran into a coworker in the hall and we talked a bit about the origin of Valentines Day which remains shrouded in some degree of conjecture throughout history. I am partial to this legend:

• The Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, compiled about 1260 and one of the most-read books of the High Middle Ages, gives sufficient details of the saints and for each day of the liturgical year to inspire a homily on each occasion. The very brief vita of St Valentine has him refusing to deny Christ before the "Emperor Claudius"in the year 280. Before his head was cut off, this Valentine restored sight and hearing to the daughter of his jailer. Jacobus makes a play with the etymology of "Valentine", "as containing valour". It is probable that the various legends about St. Valentine were invented during the middle ages. Another account states: On the evening before Valentine was to be martyred for being a Christian, he passed a love note to his jailer's daughter that read, "From your Valentine." (extracted from Wikipedia)

This particular story really sparked something in me to consider Valentines' Day from a completely different point of view. When you consider one origin of the day to be a martyred saint, then "LOVE" has a whole different meaning. It is, of course, a wonderfully romantic thought that a saint's last words were a love note to a woman. But the GREAT LOVE has nothing to do with last words or a last note but his last act, which should not be overlooked. Step back and take a look at the entire picture: a man was martyred for his belief. His GREAT LOVE was His Savior. He died refusing to denounce the Greatest Love of all time - the love of a Lord whose sacrifice echoes throughout eternity and whose victory would bring him home. Humbled am I.

How great My Lord is that He died for me. That alone should overwhelm us to our knees. And yet, in my life, just to make sure I am listening, He gives me a wonderful man to share this life with and whose presence in my life not only reminds me of my Lord but draws me nearer to Him every day.