The year is 270 A.D. Emperor Claudius the Cruel has Rome at war on many different fronts. He needs men to fight his battles but the men of Rome are too attached to their wives and families to fight the emperor’s war. Claudius solves that problem by banning marriages and engagements in Rome.
Valentine, a local priest in the city of Rome, saw the injustice of the decree and continued to perform marriages in secret. It did not take long for Valentine’s actions to be discovered. He was arrested and quickly sentenced to be beaten and decapitated. Legend has it that while imprisoned and awaiting his sentence to be carried out he befriended the jailer’s daughter; on the day of his execution, February 14, 270, he left the girl a note and signed it “From Your Valentine.” In this act, the world had its first Valentine. Nearly two millennia later, we still send Valentine’s to the one’s we love.
The account of Saint Valentine is just one example mankind’s infatuation with the mystery of Love. Love is subject of songs, books, and poetry; without love we would not have The Hallmark Channel. But if you were asked to define love what would you say? My experience says that for most people love is hard to define but we know it when we see it.
The Apostle Paul provides the most comprehensive definition of love I have read in 1 Corinthians 13 stating, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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.”
I pray that your life, your home, your Valentines are filled with this kind of unfailing love.
The Chaplain's Anvil 