Who was St. Valentine?

So, who exactly was the Saint that for some reason we associate with roses, cupids, and chocolate?  Here is what EWTN says on the subject:

At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February. One is described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), and these two seem both to have suffered in the second half of the third century and to have been buried on the Flaminian Way, but at different distances from the city. In William of Malmesbury's time what was known to the ancients as the Flaminian Gate of Rome and is now the Porta del Popolo, was called the Gate of St. Valentine. The name seems to have been taken from a small church dedicated to the saint which was in the immediate neighborhood. Of both these St. Valentines some sort of Acta are preserved but they are of relatively late date and of no historical value. Of the third Saint Valentine, who suffered in Africa with a number of companions, nothing further is known.


(courtesy of EWTN http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/V/stvalentine.asp)

As far as St. Valentine's Day is concerned, here is what the Catholic Online Encyclopedia, New Advent had to say on the subject:

The popular customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day undoubtedly had their origin in a conventional belief generally received in England and France during the Middle Ages, that on 14 February, i.e. half way through the second month of the year, the birdsbegan to pair. Thus in Chaucer's Parliament of Foules we read:

For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day 

Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.

For this reason the day was looked upon as specially consecrated to lovers and as a proper occasion for writing love letters and sending lovers' tokens. Both the French and English literatures of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contain allusions to the practice. Perhaps the earliest to be found is in the 34th and 35th Ballades of the bilingual poet, John Gower, written in French; butLydgate and Clauvowe supply other examples. Those who chose each other under these circumstances seem to have been called by each other their Valentines. In the Paston Letters, Dame Elizabeth Brews writes thus about a match she hopes to make for her daughter (we modernize the spelling), addressing the favoured suitor:

And, cousin mine, upon Monday is Saint Valentine's Day and every bird chooses himself a mate, and if it like you to come on Thursday night, and make provision that you may abide till then, I trust to God that ye shall speak to my husband and I shall pray that we may bring the matter to a conclusion.

Shortly after the young lady herself wrote a letter to the same man addressing it "Unto my rightwell beloved Valentine, JohnPaston Esquire". The custom of choosing and sending valentines has of late years fallen into comparative desuetude. 

Isn't it interesting what we can turn a saint into?  


Happy St. Valentine's Day, everyone!


-Kristy 

Solemnity of the Sacred Heart

Did you know that the entire month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus?  Yep, it sure is!  Also, tomorrow, June 19 (or actually, the Friday following the Second Sunday after Pentecost) is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

Devotion to the Sacred Heart has been around for a long time.  The Institution for the Feast of the Sacred Heart was a result of the appearances of our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1675. St. Margaret Mary suffered contempt from many people who refused to believe the authenticity of the visions. In these appearances, Our Lord told her twelve graces that He would give to anyone devoted to His Sacred Heart. Yet, it was not until 1856 that the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was placed officially on the Church calendar. However, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus dates back even to the Middle Ages.

On the Feastday of St. John the Evangelist in 1256 AD, St. Gertrude the Great had a profound vision in which she laid her head near the wound in the side of Jesus and heard the beating of the Sacred Heart. This is especially profound since St. John the Evangelist reclined his head to the heart of the Divine Savior at the Last Supper. When Our Lord later appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 1600's, he appeared to her on the feastday of St. John the Evangelist.

Our Lord requested three things: Frequently receiving Holy Communion, receiving Holy Communion especially on the first Friday of each month, and observing a Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

The following are the Promises of Jesus that were made to St. Margaret Mary:

Promises of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.
12. The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.

If you can tomorrow, why not try to attend Mass?  If your schedule makes this hard to do, try to say a prayer to the Sacred Heart.  There are many you can say.  Here is a link to EWTN's site on the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary (which is Saturday!).  Also, on this day or in the month of June, many people consecrate their homes to the Sacred Heart by hanging an image of the Sacred Heart in a prominent place in the house as well as having a short enthronement ceremony that may be performed by a priest or a deacon.  I believe Fr. Kirk and the deacons did this last year sometime if anyone remembers correctly.  It is a wonderful way to honor Jesus and His Most Sacred Heart.  I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I will be getting our summer schedule up soon!  

-Kristy

EWTN Family Celebration

Hi, everyone!  I'm up late due to taking too long of a nap today so I thought I'd post a blog or two.  I just wanted to let everyone know about the upcoming EWTN Family Celebration August 8-9.  It is held at the Birmingham, AL Convention Center and of course is put on by the EWTN television network.  I'm one of the EWTN Media Missionaries and it's part of my duties to spread the word about things like this so I've provided the link if you click on the banner below.  Chip and I made plans to attend the last one but I got the stomach flu and we couldn't go, but we are planning on trying to make it to this one.  It is a free event and I've heard it is a wonderful blessing to attend. They even have activities for kids, too!

Click on the banner for more info!

The 3 Simultaneous Popes & Links in the Chain

Did you know that at one time there were 3 different men who were considered the pope at the same time?  I sure didn't...until today!  Today's class was quite interesting!  The chapter in our book covered a TON of information, and a lot of it was hard to decipher, but we made it through thanks to Dale!  :)  

But we learned a lot, as I said.  So let me mention the 3 popes.  Benedict IX, Gregory VI, and Sylvester II.  Benedict IX was a 20 year old pope who decided that he didn't want to be pope anymore because he wanted to get married, so he SOLD the papacy to John Gratian, who became Gregory VI.  This would be called simony, and it went on quite a bit during this time period.  Well, the people didn't particularly like that this happened so they took it upon themselves to elect a pope, Sylvester II.  THEN, Benedict IX decided that he wanted to be pope AGAIN, so he re-appointed himself.  (Isn't it something what a little power and the loss of it will do to people!?!?!)  So now, there were 3 popes.  To resolve this, Gregory VI, who was the "true" pope decided that he would hold a council to settle this silliness.  To make a long story short, he ended up resigning and Benedict IX was returned to power.  I don't know about you, but I sure would not have wanted to live during this time!

Now to our 2nd part of the class...the links in the chain.  Wondering what that is?  Well, think about this first.  Do we really, truly trust God to handle everything in our lives for us?  I know that there are plenty of times that I've said, "Not now, God.  I can handle this."  But was I able to?  I can't recall a single time that I was able to handle something fully on my own and have it go exactly like I wanted it to.  It's kind of like that saying, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."  Also, think about this...how often do we judge people?  Even if we don't think we are, we are all judgmental at times.  Did you ever see a homeless person and think, "He's probably just a drunk and will take any money I give him and spend it on liquor" or see a person who you can tell doesn't have much money and think, "Well, they are probably just too lazy to get a job."  Now, did you ever think that those thoughts are judgmental?  We all just think them to ourselves and never think about the fact that God still knows we are judging.  We ALL do this!  We don't necessarily do it intentionally, but we still do it.  Humans, by our sinful nature, are independent, judgmental creatures.  So how does this relate to links in a chain?  The weaker a link is in a chain, the more likely the chain is to break eventually.  We are all links in the chain of the Catholic Church and the chain of Christianity.  If we choose not to let God handle every part of our lives or if we choose to judge everyone, we make that chain weaker because we become weak or broken links.  We must become spiritually connected to who we are as Catholic Christians.

To tie this in with our lesson, the Catholic Church is a 2,000 year old chain FULL of links.  Some are weak, but the strong ones have outnumbered the weak ones for 2,000 years, and that is why she has lasted and stood strong throughout this time.  So, do you want to be a weak or a strong link in that 2,000 year old chain?  I think I want to strive to be that strong link.  What do you think?

I hope you all are enjoying the blog.  And remember, if you'd like to make a comment, please go here to the blog's site (champsofhope.blogspot.com) and make a comment.  That way everyone can see them, not just me! 

Have a great week!

Don't Quit

I was cleaning out my e-mail "saved" folder tonight and I came across a meditation that Dale wrote almost exactly one year ago when he was at the Cancer Treatment Center of America.  It touched me then, and it still touches me now.  So for those of you who didn't get the Livin' a Dream meditations a year ago, I wanted to share this with you.  Sometimes everyone needs a little uplifting, and I think this will do the trick!  So for this blog post, I'm giving Dale the full credit.  I hope this touches you as it did me.

This is a special meditation for me, the last three days I have been at The Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, IL seeking hope and inspiration for continued good health. While there as it usually happens I met people that were struggling with their own diagnosis, and prognosis. I wanted desperately to reach out and let them know that we are all united in this battle, and Christ will offer comfort to those who seek it. While searching for something uplifting to write about I came across a poem called Don’t Quit, and it became clear that, that was the message I was to convey this week.

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit
Life is queer with its twist and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out,
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit

God has a plan for each of us. Never give up the fight, the hope, the dream, remember that today holds a special gift, and tomorrow a brighter light, and Christ our lord is with us through the fight.
Lord you are my rock and my salvation. Grant me peace, wisdom, and courage to live according to your will.
In your holy name


AMEN

Thank you, Dale, for your wonderful insight and leadership! We love you!!!