The Story of Valentine's Day

Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine, one being Saint Valentine of Rome who was a priest martyred about AD 269 and buried on the Via Flaminia, the Roman road that led to and from Rome over the Apennine Mountains. His relics are said to be at the Church of Saint Praxed in Rome and also at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland—the result of a gift by Pope Gregory XVI.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailor's daughter — who visited him during his confinement. He had healed her of her blindness. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legend is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D — others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'Christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them clean, and then salt and a type of wheat called spelt were sprinkled throughout the interior. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February (i.e. February 15) was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.

Boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with goat hide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed by the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D as a feast day in order to superimpose Christianity on a pagan holiday.

Valentine may have been a symbol of love, but no truer love can be found than in the person of Jesus Christ who gave his life for his bride, the Church. This is why he gave his disciples and by extension us a commandment of love.


“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” John 15:12-17

Out with the Old

It’s the New Year—2015. Time does fly, especially for us older folks.  With the New Year comes the expression, “Out with the old and in with the new.” Why? We just celebrated Christmas, and we wouldn’t throw that away. Christmas reminds us of the love of God that extended to us even while we were yet sinners. The joy of knowing that should carry us into the New Year and beyond. Christ never leaves us, which means we can face the coming year as a new adventure, for if Christ is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31. The Hebrews had an expression of “walking backwards into the future.” They didn’t know what lay ahead, but they could look back and see how the Lord brought them through the difficulties of the past. One of the reasons they piled stones at strategic places was to remind them what God had previously done for them. The stones also served as an encouragement to walk boldly into the unknown, knowing that God who had brought them through the past will help them face the future.

The promise of Christ is to be with us always (Matt. 28:19). So, whatever 2015 holds, we can face it because we have Jesus. We can look back over our lives and see the hand of God protecting and guiding us through our own ups and downs. Hindsight, in this regard, is a wonderful thing, for like the stone monuments in the Old Testament, we are able to view our own spiritual benchmarks and receive encouragement from them. We can face whatever 2015 holds because we walk backwards into it, holding the hand of Christ who leads us.

“Out with the old” should include all the bad stuff that keeps our focus away from Christ. Jonathan Edwards once resolved the following, “Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.” Living for God is the response of gratitude for Christ dying for us. We are rescued reprobates who but for the love of Christ would continue to live in the deadness of our sins. But we have been salvaged and whisked from darkness to walk in and with the Light who illuminates the path behind us. We don’t have to see more, for Christ knows where he is taking us; and that is what makes life worthwhile.

“In with the new” is to join in the adventure that 2015 will bring. The New Year represents the end of the Christmas season where the birth of Christ was celebrated and gifts were exchanged. It is a time to remember that the best present we received never changes. It is the gift of Christ who granted us power to live as one favored with new life. The New Year is a renewal of that life. We therefore have the power to trek the adventure of another year, knowing nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Enjoy the adventure of 2015!

Concert for Valor

I watched the Concert for Valor last night on Veterans Day and was appalled. As a combat veteran in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War I was looking forward to a concert that would honor our veterans and active duty servicemen. Aside from a couple patriotic songs and short video bios on military heroes, the concert was neither honoring nor patriotic. Most of the songs sung were popular hits from recent headliners, which was probably entertaining for the young, but did nothing to rouse one’s patriotism. The concert, though performed on Veterans Day, was more of a USO entertainment extravaganza. With the cussing of Eminem and the introduction of military heroes by actors and politicians known more for their anti-military views, the show was not about promoting valor, but rather an opportunity for liberal celebrities to align with our distinguished heroes of the armed services. The most enjoyable part of the concert was the booing that Bruce Springsteen received, especially when he sung a CCR song called “Fortunate Son,” which is an anti-war protest song.

HBO produced the concert and was responsible for hiring the acts. With what occurred, one has to wonder what was the intent behind booking Springsteen, a person with an anti-war protest background, and Eminem, who usually appears with an expletive-laden vocabulary. I was certainly disappointed that this concert was not more honoring to veterans. A more appropriate name would have been “Concert of Pallor”—for it certainly paled in contrast to honoring veterans.  

How the Pilgrim's Landed

Queen Elizabeth in ascending to the thrown of Great Britain succeeded her half sister, known as Bloody Mary. Mary, a Roman Catholic, killed and outlawed hundreds of reformers. Elizabeth was Protestant and established Anglicanism as the religion of England. She, however, would not tolerate other religions, like that of the Puritans and Separatists. The Pilgrims were a group of people who strove for religious freedom and worshipped quietly in Scooby, England. Once King James I (a Stuart) succeeded Elizabeth, their existence was tested, for James proclaimed, “I shall make them conform or I shall harry them out of the land.” So, the Pilgrims as a group fled to Holland where they could worship in freedom.

They stayed about 12 years in Holland, but desired the traditions and nationalism of their homeland. Fearing their children were becoming more Dutch than English and more morally loose and free spirited, they decided to look for new horizons. They found the opportunity in Sir Edwin Sandys, a friend of John Robinson and William Brewster, the Pilgrim leaders in Holland. Sandys was a sympathizer to the scruples of Separatism, which was the religious name assumed by the Pilgrims, for they separated themselves from the Church of England. When Sandys became the treasurer of the Virginia Company of London, which held the land rights to the Virginia Colony and granted charters, he arranged a 7000 pound loan to the Separatists to sponsor a colonization effort in the new world. The loan was terribly small in comparison with the 200,000-pound financial backing given to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the 300,000-pound loss incurred by the Bermuda and Jamestown effort. Even though small, the Pilgrims would have to trust God for a successful colonization.

On September 16, 1620, a group of 40 Separatists and 62 sectarians sailed from England in the now famous ship called the Mayflower. They first landed at what is now Provincetown, some 200 miles off course, for they were to settle in New Jersey, which was then part of the Virginia land grant. While anchored off the coast, they enacted the Mayflower Compact, which was a covenant whereby all the settlers agreed to submit themselves to the laws of the colony. It contained the seeds of democracy, the foundation upon which America was built. After a month of exploration, the Pilgrims chose Plymouth to become their new home, for there they found a deep harbor, fresh water, and hills for defense.  A deserted Indian village was also located on the site; and the fields for planting were already cleared. They realized that God had been one step ahead of them, providing a new home.

The first winter, however, was terrible. Scurvy set in and took more than half of the colonists. Out of 18 married women, only 4 survived the winter. Bodies were buried during the night in order to prevent the local natives from knowing how depleted they were in people. Yet, when spring came, not one Pilgrim abandoned the colony to return to England. They persevered and were fortunate to have met Samoset, who on March 16, 1621, entered the encampment at Plymouth and spoke to the colonists. He had learned his broken English from fishermen that came to fish off the coast of Maine. After spending the night with the Pilgrims, he left and returned with five others, who brought deerskins to trade. As it was Sunday, the colonists declined to trade at that time, but offered them some food. On March 22, 1621 Samoset came back with Squanto, the last remaining Patuxet, who spoke much better English than him. The Patuxet Indians, known to be a more ruthless tribe than the Wampanoags led by Chief Massasoit, had settled the Plymouth area, but were wiped out by a plague. Squanto, at the time, was in England, thereby avoiding the plague. He eventually lived outside the village and became a friend to the Pilgrims.

God surely prepared a place for the Pilgrims. Psalm 104 says, “These all look to you to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things” (vv. 27-28). The Pilgrims certainly looked to God who also provided fields ready to be planted, which insured their survival. He also surrounded them with friendly Indians, with whom they would eventually sign a pact for mutual defense. To celebrate their blessings, they held the first Thanksgiving in which 100 Indians attended. The feast of fowl and venison, pumpkin and corn, lasted three days. Certainly, this great banquet was a fitting celebration of God’s providential care.

Fact and Fiction about the Pilgrims

            I grew up outside of Plymouth in the land of the Pilgrims. I even attended school or played ball with some of the descendants of our first settlers—Brewster, Bradford, and Standish. Since November is the month of Thanksgiving, I thought I would list 10 little known facts or trivia about the Pilgrims. There are questions at the end of each paragraph, which may be used at Thanksgiving as a game of Pilgrim Trivia.

1. Samoset, an Indian from Maine, first came alone to the Pilgrims. His first words in broken English were, “Welcome, Englishmen! You got beer?” In Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, it is reported that Samoset asked for beer, “but we gave him strong water, and biscuit, and butter, and cheese, and pudding, and a piece of mallard; all which he liked well."[1] The manifest of food on the Mayflower indicated that the Pilgrims had kegs of beer, but they may have run out by the time of Samoset’s appearance. Beer was better than water because you could not trust the water. Harmful microorganisms, present in water, cannot survive long in beer (or wine). To survive the trip across an ocean, you needed a source of water, which during the colonial era, was beer and wine. What do you think the “strong water” was that was given to Samoset in place of beer? Holland Gin or Brandy. These alcoholic beverages were known as “strong waters,” which were relied upon for maintaining body warmth. According to Azel Ames in his The Mayflower and Her Log; July 15, 1620-May 6, 1621 (Complete), the food manifest not only included beer, but listed brandy and gin (in pipes).

2. Squanto introduced the Pilgrims to native seed such as pumpkin, beans, and corn. He taught them to plant a dead fish over the seed of corn that acted as fertilizer, causing greater growth and production. Did he teach the Pilgrims how to make popcorn? No! According to Andrew F. Smith who wrote Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America (Smithsonian, 2001), the Pilgrims’ popcorn myth is traced to the 1880s, when heavy immigration fostered the creation of national myths to sell magazines, newspapers, and school curricula to Americanize the newcomers. The Department of Agriculture asserts that South and Central American Indians ate popcorn more than 2500 years ago, but no evidence exists for popcorn being eaten in the Massachusetts or Virginia colonies.

3. Of the 149 people aboard the Mayflower, 48 were crew, 45 were Pilgrims or Separatists, 36 were Sectarians from London and Southhampton, 14 were servants of the Pilgrims, and 6 were servants of the sectarians. Only one person, a seaman, died during the voyage across the Atlantic though 4 died on the ship in the harbor of Plymouth. How many died the first winter? Over Half! They were buried at night to prevent the Indians from knowing how many of their number were depleted.

4. John Alden was 21 years old when recruited as a crewman and cooper on board the Mayflower. He married Priscilla Mullins who was 19 and the daughter of one of the sectarians. According to Longfellow’s The Courtship of Miles Standish, the captain sent his young friend, Alden to speak for him in his proposal of courting Miss Mullins. After Alden had pleaded Standish's case, Mullins said, "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" They were clearly in love, but the couple was afraid of offending Standish. When they received word that the captain had been killed fighting Indians, they agreed to marry. At the end of the wedding, Standish, alive and well, appeared, saw the starry-eyed couple and gave his blessing, asking forgiveness for his previous behavior. Alden and Mullins had 11 children and were among the founders of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts. What was Priscilla’s occupation besides spinner and weaver? Schoolteacher.

5. The first Thanksgiving feast was based on the Jewish holiday, Sukkoth or Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles). It commemorated the temporary shelters used by the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. The Pilgrim celebration lasted 3 days and included games and recreation. They ate outside and their tables didn't overflow with pies, partly because there was no desire to deplete their sugar supplies. The pilgrims hunted fowl for the feast and 100 Indians arrived with five deer to be dressed, cooked and served for the meal. Although George Washington commemorated the feast by calling for a day of thanksgiving, Thanksgiving was not declared a federal holiday until which President? Abraham Lincoln.

6. The Pilgrims did not call themselves “Pilgrims” or “Separatists.” They referred to themselves as “saints” and were much ridiculed by the sailors. The leader, according to the Pilgrim who kept a journal, was a “very profane young man” who was strongly built and haughty in attitude. He and others gloated at the seasickness of the Pilgrims and told them how much he would delight in sewing them in shrouds and feeding them to the fish. He even called them “psalm singing puke-stockings.” The Pilgrim journaler wrote that “it pleased God to smite the young man with a grievous disease,” which led to his death at sea. Ironically, he was the first to die, his body thrown into the sea to be feasted on by the fish. Who was the Pilgrim who wrote about this? William Bradford who was a signatory of the Mayflower Compact and served as the 2^nd Governor of Plymouth after the death of John Carter. He retained this post for most of the remainder of his life.

7.  The Pilgrims hardly wore clothing that was black and white as portrayed in the pictures that we see. Women wore red, green, browns, blue, violet, and gray. A common color for children was blue. Boys wore dresses until six; then they started dressing like their fathers. What were their pants called? Breeches.

8. Pilgrims played “draughts,” their name for checkers. Outside, children played a game called “hid,” which we call “Hide and Seek.” They also played “lummelen,” a Dutch word known today as “Keep Away.” They also liked to participate in “Leapfrog” and marbles, and solve riddles and puzzles. Children also played “naughts and crosses,” “naughts” being an old English word for zero and crosses made like an X. What game would that resemble today? Tic, Tac, Toe.

9. Pilgrims also participated in sports. One in particular was "stool ball," which involved a three-legged dairy stool that the participants would try to knock over with a leather ball while another defended it with a wooden bat. "Pitching the bar" was a contest of strength, usually for older youth and adults, in which the participants would have to toss a long, thick pole end over end. The winner was the person who could throw it the farthest. Which Scottish game does this resemble? The caber toss. The term 'caber' comes from the Gaelic word "cabar" or "kaber," meaning rafter or beam. The origin of the caber toss is most likely traced to the military action of breaching barriers or crossing streams. During battle, the caber was tossed from one side of the stream to the other to quickly make a bridge. The warring Scotsmen would then cross the freezing stream and pursue their enemies.

10. The father of Priscilla Mullins was a cobbler and shoemaker. He brought with him on the Mayflower 250 pairs of shoes and 13 pairs of boots. Popular footwear for men in the northern countries was either high-topped boots with turnovers or low-heeled, round-toed shoes. Were these shoes fastened with buckles? No. There were no shoe buckles during this period nor were there hat buckles. They did not come into fashion until much later in the 17^th century. So, pictures of Pilgrims with buckles on hats and shoes are not portraying accurately what they wore in the 1600s.

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[1] http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2699800153.html (accessed 10/23/14)