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 

St. Augustine

For those of you who missed my riveting lesson (just kidding) on St. Augustine, here are some things you might find interesting.

Augustine was quite an interesting character, to say the least!  Born in Thagaste, Africa, to a Christian mother (St. Monica) and a non-Christian father, he did not immediately become a Christian.  He was a very smart man, and while he was attending school in Carthage, he met a girl and they eventually had a child, who was named Adeodatus.  For 15 years, Augustine stayed with this girl.  

Augustine went through many changes and changed his beliefs many, many times.  Finally, due to the fervent prayers of his mother, Monica, he converted to Christianity.  His conversion experience was sealed when he heard a voice cry out to him saying, "Take up and read!"  He then read one of Paul's letters that showed him the error of his ways.  Augustine was baptized on Holy Saturday in 387 by Bishop Ambrose.  He then became the Bishop of Hippo until his death.

That was just a short few facts about St. Augustine.  Hopefully you learned a little something!  I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I'll see you Sunday!

Constantine & the Christians

I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it to class today.  We tried everything we could to get to Mass & Sunday school.  This morning, Chip tried to back the car out and it got stuck in the driveway.  He had to dig it out.  Then we tried to make it to the 12:30 Spanish Mass, but it had apparently been cancelled from what I and the others that showed up could tell.  But I still read through the chapter and I'm going to try to post a few things about it.

In Chapter 4, we learn about the persecutions of the Christians and finally the relief from that persecution due to the emperor Constantine.  The persecutions were thought to begin with the emperor Nero in A.D. 64.  He was a brutal and vicious emperor not only to Christians, but to his own pagan followers. In fact, it is Nero that is thought to be the "beast" of St. John's vision in Revelation. 

We read in Revelation:  "Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six." Rev. 13: 16-18 (RSV-CE).  Biblical scholars have narrowed it down to Nero because his name "Caesar Nero" equals the number 666 in Hebrew.  

It was in the 3rd century, however, that we see the persecution of Christians on a larger scale.  This occurred because edicts were now issued to allow the governors of the provinces to persecute them.  Several emperors throughout the next years persecuted Christians, and it was during this time we had many, many martyrs of the faith.  In a decree in February 303, the emperor Diocletian ordered all Christian places of worship and books to be destroyed.  This began what our book calls the "final agony" (p. 39) of the Church, which lasted from 303 to 312.  In 311, Galerius issued a decree that allowed Christians to resume their assemblies.

It was finally, in 312, with Constantine's victory that Christians saw the light and the persecutions began to end.  Constantine had done something that no other emperor had done...he attributed his victory to the help of the Christian God.   Constantine is thought to have had a vision where Christ appeared to him and told him to put the Savior's monogram (the Greek chi and rho) on his shields.  Constantine eventually even started to impose restrictions on pagan practices, and he began to display Christian symbols publicly.  He even allowed certain privileges to members of Christian clergy.  

Sadly, though, Constantine did not "officially" become a Christian until his death.  History tells us he was baptized on his death bed.  However, thanks to him, the Church was to change forever.  His conversion was one of the great turning points in Church history.

One part of Constantine's life and the Church history that is related to it that I find interesting is what tradition tells us about his mother, St. Helen or Helena.  St. Helen converted to Christianity at age 60 and then went on a pilgramage to the Holy Land.  Upon her arrival, St. Helen began to look for Judeo-Christian relics, specifically the True Cross and Jesus' tomb.
Once she arrived in Jerusalem, aimed at Calvary and the Holy Sepulcher, she found the site was covered by a temple to Venus built earlier by Emperor Hadrian. Helena ordered the temple torn down. It was during the dismantling that the tomb of Jesus Christ and the three wooden crosses were discovered. The True Cross of the Lord was recognized as the one which wrought a miraculous cure for the sufferer who was placed upon. On the site of her great discovery Helen built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. Then she continued building churches on every Holy site, from Jesus' birth- cave to His point of Ascension.

When she returned to Rome, she brought with her large pieces of the cross and enshrined the relics in her palace's private chapel, where they can still be seen today. In 329 Helen died with her son Constantine at her side. Her red porphyry sarcophagus is on display in the Vatican Museum. The relics of St. Helen are entombed in the church of Santa Maria, overlooking the Roman Forum . In liturgical art Helena is depicted as an empress, holding a cross. She was revered as a saint, and the veneration spread, early in the ninth century, even to Western countries. Her feast falls on August 18th.  You can find more on St. Helena here, and you can find a little bit more about the cross and the crucifix and her discoveries here.

I hope everyone has a great week!!!