St. Valentine - Orthodox Saint: Why is Valentine's Day a day of love?

St. Valentine - Orthodox Saint: Why is Valentine's Day a day of love?
Celebrating Valentine's Day on February 14 provokes a mixed reaction in the society. The reason is often ignorance of the content of this day and misinformation spread among the people.
Sometimes we also encounter aggressive denial, this time St. Valentine is a Christian saint and there is nothing wrong with commemorating him with a Christian content.

But such a "feast of love" has not been instituted by either the Orthodox or the Catholic Church, although on February 14 there is indeed a commemoration of the third-century martyr St. Valentine Intermel (the same saint is commemorated by the Orthodox on August 12). For the Church of Rome, the theme of true love between a man and a woman becomes more and more relevant on the Feast of the Holy Family (celebrated in March). As for February 14, on this day Catholics more often celebrate the commemoration of Cyril and Methodius.

The story that St. Bishop Valentine violated Claudius II's decree forbidding the marriage of conscripts and secretly marrying loving couples is considered by the Catholic Church to be a mere legend - a Christian marriage ritual had not yet been developed.

"Ambion" talked to Alexi Kshutashvili, Doctor of Theology in Ecclesiastical Law, about Valentine's Day and St. Valentine:

"St. Valentine was a truly historical figure, a saint who lived in the middle of the third century in the city of Terni, in present-day Italy. Was Bishop of Interam. He was martyred in 270.

We know that until 1054, before the Catholic Church seceded from the Orthodox Church, all saints who served in Western Europe were generally considered Orthodox saints. Accordingly, St. Valentine, whose commemoration is already celebrated by the Catholic Church on February 14, and the Eastern Orthodox Church - in the style of July 30 BC and in the style of August 12, is one of the first martyrs of the Orthodox Church. He is also called Valentine the Italian. "

To what extent is it possible for different local churches to commemorate the same saint on a different calendar day ?

Such a thing has happened in practice and it is not surprising. The Feast of St. Valentine was officially celebrated in 494 during the reign of Bishop Gelas of Rome. Since that time, St. Valentine has been celebrated in Western Europe on February 14th. The commemoration of this saint in the East took place later and was appointed in the old style on July 30th.

There are many examples of the mention of the same saint being mentioned in different numbers.

For example, the Day of Remembrance of St. Antimos Iveriel is celebrated by the Romanian Orthodox Church on September 27, and the Georgian Orthodox Church - on June 26. The world celebrates Christian St. George in May. We also celebrate St. George in May, but the main St. George is with us in November. St. Nicholas is celebrated by the Orthodox Christian once a year - in December, the Georgian and Russian Orthodox Churches celebrate St. Nicholas in May as well.

Most scholars agree that St. Valentine, commemorated on February 14 in Western Europe, is the same saint that the Orthodox, worshiped in the first century BCE In style on July 30 and ah. We mention August 12 in style.

Why was February 14 set as the day of commemoration of St. Valentine ?

There are two versions. The first is that the saint was actually martyred in 270, on February 14th.

According to the second version, while the Orthodox Church of Western Europe set February 14 as the day of commemoration of the saint,

They wanted to replace the celebration of the pagan holiday - Lupercals - with Christian content. For centuries, February 14 has been celebrated in the Roman Empire as a pagan holiday called Lupercalia, or the feast of the wolf deity.

In Rome stood the pagan temple of the wolf deity, where a ritual was performed: on this day, two animals were sacrificed in the temple - a goat and a dog. They were beaten, and some whips and belts were cut from their skins.

The temple included two priests - naked men. They wore these belts with whatever leather was left, went outside and started a ritual jog around the temple. Lots of people gathered near the temple at that time. While jogging, they beat people with their whips, and especially women tried to hit them too. According to the pagan notion, whoever hit this whip would have luck in love, in starting a family, in having children… that is, the feast of the wolf deity was associated with fertility, love…

On the occasion of Valentine's Day on February 14, instead of listening to pagan priests, people went to church, attended services and heard the sermons of Orthodox priests about family, Christian love, and raising children.

How often do we see pagan holidays being replaced by Christian holidays?

Such a thing has been practiced many times in the church over the centuries. For missionary purposes, the Holy Fathers specifically celebrated various Christian holidays on the days of some pagan holiday.

A striking example of this is the celebration of the Nativity of Christ on December 25th. We know that until the 4th century AD, the Nativity of Christ was not celebrated at all in the Orthodox Church. At the beginning of the fourth century, the celebration of the Nativity of Christ was started by healers, directly by the Gnostics, obviously with a heretical content. According to their teachings, matter was evil. At Christmas they saw a cause for mourning. Evil force has swallowed up the deity, - so the healers looked at Christmas.

In order to give the people a correct understanding of Christmas, the Holy Fathers established the celebration of Christmas in the Orthodox Church on December 25. They wanted to make it clear to the people that Christmas is not the beginning of mourning but of celebration and the beginning of the salvation of mankind. On December 25, the pagans celebrated the birthday of the sun. In the same issue, marking Christmas, the Orthodox Church preached that the true God is not the visible sun, but the Savior Jesus Christ, who says of himself in the Gospel: I am the sun of righteousness.

In this way the worldview of the pagan holiday with Christian content was replaced.

Why is Valentine's Day associated with Valentine's Day ?

There is only oral transmission. At a time when St. Valentine was in prison and knew he had to be killed and martyred the next day, he wrote a farewell letter to his wife, fulfilling it with the words: Your Valentine (the seventh-century bishops also had wives. , I.e. should not have had families). He expresses his love for his wife in this letter. That is why St. Valentine is associated with love, lovers, patronage of the family თვის For the people he became a saint who loved his family and did not forget his wife even before his death.

How to properly celebrate Valentine's Day?

First of all, we need to know that St. Valentine is not a Catholic but an Orthodox saint. The Orthodox celebrate Valentine's Day, the commemoration of the Bishop of Interam, St. Valentine on February 14, or July 30 (or August 12 in a new style) with Christian content, there is nothing wrong with that. We can go to the temple, read unseen, and it is possible for the priests to offer a prayer, or even a liturgy, on this day.

To the people, to the parish, we must explain that the celebration of Valentine's Day should not be a cause of immorality, greed, adultery, sin. They need to talk about the Christian family, the content of love. If young people love each other, love exists to start a family and help people walk each other on the path to life through mutual love. Love and family are meant to raise children and raise them with Christian faith and love.

Today, in most part of the world, Valentine's Day, unfortunately, is not a reason for a Christian holiday, a prayer, but for carnal indecency. This is because people are not ecclesiastical and for non-ecclesiastical people a Christian holiday is just an excuse for pastimes. Often we, the clergy, do not have the correct information about this day. If we provide the public with information about Valentine's Day with a Christian content, there will be no more misunderstandings.