As millions of people all over the world send Valentine’s Day cards and greetings to their loved ones this week, I wonder how many know anything about this 3rd Century Roman physician and priest named Valentine. The short story is that Emperor Claudius II of Rome needed soldiers to fight his wars so he issued an edict banning engagement and marriage because he thought single men would be better fighters than married men. Father Valentine disregarded this edict and married couples in spite of the new law. 

When the Emperor discovered this ‘lawlessness,’ he had Father Valentine arrested and brought before him. The Emperor gave Valentine the choice of recanting and ceasing the ‘illegal’ acts or suffer severe punishment. While awaiting punishment, Valentine was imprisoned where he befriended a jailer who had a blind daughter. Knowing Valentine to be a man of God, the jailer asked the priest to heal his daughter’s blindness. After praying for the daughter, she was healed and along with her father became fellow sojourners and friends of Father Valentine. 

Emperor Claudius ll became impatient with Valentine and eventually had him beaten and stoned. Not willing to die or recant, Valentine was summarily decapitated. Before this final end, in 269CE, he wrote a kindly note to the daughter and drew a heart before his signature which said ‘From your Valentine.’ Over time, this suffering and martyrdom for love became associated with this priest and physician, thus making him the patron saint of love, devotion, greeting and compassion for friends, lovers, married  couples and bee keepers, which is another story. 

As the above quote from Leo Tolstoy says: Love is Life. It’s the foundation of all spirituality, religion, psychology and even science when boiled down to its essence. It’s the Dabar, the Cristo, the Prana, the sub-atomic energy of the universe and all we see, hear, taste, touch, smell, know and not know. It’s the foundation of everything that is, was and ever shall be. It’s the invisible that becomes visible, the soundless that becomes sound, the unknown that becomes known, the formless that becomes form, the revelation of pure consciousness, the ineffable wonder of God-ness. 

So, as you sign your cards, give gifts, send flowers and open your hearts this day, week, month, year: Remember Saint Valentine and his unselfish love and devotion to compassion. Remember to love like you’ve never loved before and reverence the whole of creation. Awaken to the Ultimate Creating and celebrate the suffering that awakens you to the wonder of New Life. Give yourself to making honey, sweetness and nourishment for others as well as for yourself. Awaken to the experience of soul making that allows you to remove your masks and set yourself free as ‘Love is the Healing.’

• Take a moment right now to close your eyes and envision the loving energy that’s  flowing in, around and through you. Listen to the silent music that’s humming a love song for you. Calm, center, relax and rejoice at the unconditional love that’s here, now!
• From this place, send a loving message of thankfulness to a family member, friend or community from your heart center. Look around and bless everything you see. Feel the essence of Life coursing through everyone and everything. Become aware of the need for you to receive and give more love in this moment.
• Remember to remember that you are Love, you are a Light in the world, you are here on a mission of Love that starts with you, those you’re with and the whole of creation. Remember that you are a steward of Love, a messenger of Love, a conduit of Love, a product of Love, a witness to Love. Are you feeling it, seeing it, breathing it, embracing it, receiving it, sending it?  It’s the ultimate gift of LIFE. How can you be a Valentine?