Let Love Reign over Everything
Valentine’s Day 2022 / 14 February / Article
Let Love Reign over
Everything
Fr Dr M. D. Thomas
Director, Institute of
Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi
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The 14th day of February is Valentine’s
Day. It is also called Saint Valentine’s Day or Feast of the Christian martyr
Saint Valentine. The day is a significant cultural, religious and commercial
celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
There are a number of martyrdom stories associated
with various Valentines. One such story, the most significant of them too, is
that of an imprisoned Saint Valentine of Rome, who used to minister to
Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century.
Saint Valentine performed a miracle and seems to have restored
sight to the blind daughter of his jailer Asterius. Before execution by Emperor
Claudius II for not getting converted to Roman paganism, he seems to have
signed ‘Your Valentine’ to her, as well.
As per the story, as a result of the miracle of the
healing of the jailer’s daughter, his forty-six member household, family
members and servants, came to believe in Jesus and were baptized. As
per yet another story, Valentine performed weddings for Christian soldiers who
were forbidden to marry.
Valentine of Rome is known to have died on 14 February
269 and was buried in Flaminia. Pope Gelasius I in
AD 496 established the day as a feast. The day became associated with ‘romantic
love’, ‘courtly love’, ‘lovebirds’, well, ‘love’ in its own merit.
Towards the 18th century England, Valentine’s
Day grew into an occasion, when couples expressed their love for each other by
presenting flowers, offering confectionery and sending greeting cards, known as
‘valentines’.
The symbols of Valentine’s Day include the
heart-shaped outline, doves and winged cupid. Cupid was ancient Roman god of love in all
its varieties, the counterpart of the Greek god Eros and the equivalent of Amor
in Latin poetry.
Handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced
greeting cards, since 19th century. In Italy, ‘Saint Valentine’s
Keys’ are given to lovers ‘as a
romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart’.
Saint Valentine’s Day is not a public holiday in any
country. But, it is an official feast day in many Christian denominations, like
the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran Church. Many parts of the
Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrate the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine.
The relics of Saint Valentine were kept in the Church and
Catacombs of San Valentino in
Rome. It was an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages. The
flower-crowned skull of Saint Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in
Cosmedin, Rome.
Roman Emperor Claudius II seems to have forbid wedding
for soldiers in order to grow his army, believing that married men did not make
good soldiers. Saint Valentine, in view of affirming the right to marry,
performed clandestine Christian
weddings for soldiers who were
forbidden to marry.
Saint Valentine is also considered the saint of
spring, the saint of good health and the patron of beekeepers and
pilgrims. A proverb says that ‘Saint Valentine brings the keys of roots’.
Plants and flowers start to grow on this day. It has been celebrated as the day
when the first work in the vineyards and in the fields commences.
Valentine’s Day has recently been celebrated as the ‘day
of love’. But, romantic connotations are attributed to Saint Valentine only
after the great poet of the English literature, Geoffrey Chaucer, wrote a poem about ‘Valentine’s Day’ in the 14th century.
‘The Parliament of Fowls’ is his romantic poem. It is a dream vision portraying
a parliament for birds to choose their mates. This poem was in honour of the
first anniversary of the engagement of fifteen-year-old King Richard II of
England to
fifteen-year-old Anne of Bohemia.
Thus goes Chaucer’s poem in modern English, “For this
was on Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird comes there to choose his match;
of every kind that men may think of; And that so huge a noise they began to
make; That earth and air and tree and every lake;
Was so full, that not easily was there space; For me to stand—so full was all
the place.”
Furthermore, poem on Valentine’s Day by William
Shakespeare, decorated box of chocolates in the shape of a heart, exchanging
greeting cards and flowers, cup cakes, huge spending in the name of Valentine’s
Day, internet popularity, and the like, contributed to the celebrative value of
Valentine’s Day, across the world.
In the course of history, appreciation, love and
friendship, family love, renewal of marriage vows, devotion, and the like,
accompanied Valentine’s Day. More and more countries in the world fell in suit
celebrating the day, in diverse ways. But, a few countries, as usual, had
reservation, too, even to the point of banning it.
As far as India is concerned, India has the ancient traditions of ‘kaamsootra’, ‘worship of shiv ling’ and ‘dev daasi pradhaa’, along with the erotic presentations on Khajuraho group of temples. All the same, the negative reaction from the right wing thinkers to Valentine’s Day in the recent times makes one frown in dismay. Nonetheless, the dire reality is that Valentine’s Day is becoming more and more popular in India, as in other countries.
Some of the alternate phrases for Valentine’s Day have
been Candle Day, White Day, Black Day, Rose Day, Kiss Day, Silver Day, Green Day, Music
Day, Wine Day, Movie Day, Hug Day, Lover’s day and All Hearts’ Day.
· A few of the catch phrases of Valentine’s Day are “I love you”, “My heart is, and always will be, yours”, “All you need is love”, “Take my Heart”, “A big bear hug for you”, “From our Hearts to Yours”, “All I wish is love”, and the like. As a matter of fact, there is something sacred and humane about all these love-related phrases.
‘Love’ is the sum and
substance of life. Love is divine. Love is human. Love makes life eternal. Love
gives human life nobility, dignity and decorum. Love pervades everything. Where
there is no love, there is nothing but emptiness. Where there is love, there is
everything. We should learn to honour love with due dignity. Love has to reign
over everything in life. That is what Valentine’s Day is all about.
On the occasion of ‘Valentine’s Day 2022’,
the humans in India and world over have to imbibe the sacred and humane spirit
of love from Valentine’s day, live in a manner that is mutually related and
thus give dignity to the humanity and divinity in, around and above us. Wow to
the Valentines!
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The
author is Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi, and
has been committed to interfaith
relations, national integration and social harmony, for the past over 40 years. He contributes to the above
cause through lectures, articles, video
messages, conferences, social interactions, views at TV channels, and the
like.
He
could be viewed, listened to and
contacted at the following portals – websites ‘www.mdthomas.in’ (p), ‘https://mdthomas.academia.edu’, ‘https://drmdthomas.blogspot.com’ and ‘www.ihpsindia.org’ (o); social media ‘https://www.youtube.com/InstituteofHarmonyandPeaceStudies’, ‘https://twitter.com/mdthomas53’, ‘https://www.facebook.com/mdthomas53’; email ‘mdthomas53@gmail.com’ and telephone 9810535378.
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