On Saturday, February
14, 2015, we will be celebrating the Day of St. Valentine. St. Valentine of
Rome, according to tradition, was a Christian saint who was imprisoned for
performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for
ministering to Christians who were persecuted under the Roman Empire and was
later executed. There are surely other traditions to the origins of St.
Valentine’s Day. The date was first associated with romantic love during the
High Middle Ages when the tradition of courtly love flourished and has further
evolved into a day in which those in love give each other flowers, presents or
some other expression of affection. Today, on Valentine’s Day even friendships
are celebrated.
I have been married
for almost 39 years to my one and only Valentine and I look forward to
celebrating this day with her and not only this day but every day for the rest
of our natural lives. When I think of Valentine’s Day I can’t help but to
think of that precious poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning:
HOW DO I LOVE THEE?
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the
depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach,
when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being
and ideal grace.
I love thee to the
level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by
sun and candle-light
I love thee freely, as
men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as
they turn from praise.
I love thee with the
passion put to use
In my old griefs, and
with my childhood faith.
I love thee with a love
I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I
love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all
my life; and if God chooses
I shall love thee
better after death.
However, the true
purity and perfectness of real and lasting love can be found in no other example
than in the sacrificial love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The love within
the Trinity itself for each of its members is the greatest example of love.
That is why they relate to each other with the filial terms, My Father, My Son
and My Spirit. They are intrinsically related to one another in inseparable
ways. But also the love of the Trinity for the world and the creatures they
created is clearly evident in the way the Father constantly seeks the lost,
with mercy and compassion, the way the Son sacrificially offers Himself on the
cross as the Redeemer of sinners and the way the Holy Spirit works within each
of us to sanctify us and lead and draw us to the Father and to the Son.
The greatest, most
beautiful and most profound description of this love within the Trinity and
therefore the greatest example of what love should and must look like for all
of us, including within the marriage relationship, is not in a poem but rather
in St. Paul’s First letter to the Corinthians: “Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. Love never fails.” This is the kind of love
that all of us seek for with the greatest longing, hunger and thirst for
passionately and that would satisfy us at the deepest levels and would be the
greatest gift we could give to one another this Valentine’s Day and every other
day of the year.
Is this how you express love for your Valentine? You should! What
do you think?
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