February can be a tough month. The days are still short, and the novelty of the cold weather has worn off. For those in school, spring break still feels like months away. And then, to top it all off, Lent looms around the corner. Soon, we will be invited to engage in a spiritual self-examination for the 40 days before Easter. Sometimes it can feel like heavy sledding. This year, we have the added reality of a political climate that even for the most seasoned feels exhaustingly divided, and for some among us, feels downright dangerous. Every year the doldrums of February are rescued by a day that is marked to celebrate love.
There is a wonderful word that is used in a religious context. It is “hagiography”. It simply means a biography that idealizes someone. There have been several notable hagiographies written about St. Valentine who died in Rome in the 3rd century. Although the Catholic Church still recognizes him as a saint, he was removed from the Roman Calendar in 1969 because of the lack of reliable information about him. Perfect for speculation! According to the legend, St. Valentine signed a letter “from your Valentine” to his jailer’s daughter, whom he had befriended and healed from blindness. Another common legend states that he defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from being conscripted to serve in war.
Valentine’s day has been celebrated as a day for sweethearts from at least the 14th century. While we may never know the real “facts” about the life of St. Valentine, he seemed to have inspired the church to name the day to celebrate “eros” after him. But, If I may, perhaps we can broaden this February mandate to love that goes beyond eros. Agape (unconditional love), Eros (romantic love), and Philia (brotherly love) are of course the three types of love that are used throughout scripture. Christians recognize Agape as the highest form of love, representing Jesus’ love for humanity.
Jim VandeHei from the online news source Axios* recently described the characteristics of the late Fred Rogers that enabled him to become kinder and more loving even as he became better known: authentic humility, intense interest in others, unusual optimism, minimalist living, and deep faith.
I would like to think that we at St. Bart’s have something to offer that speaks to this approach to life. As we think about the ways that we engage love in all of its forms, let’s engage the wisdom of Fred Rogers as a perfect antidote to biting temperatures and loyalties divided. If you are married and would like to renew your vows, we have just the event for you happening right here at 6 pm on February 14th. St. Valentine would be delighted!
* VandeHei, Jim. Axios, March 17th, 2022. “What I’ve Learned from Mike Allen and Mr. Rogers”
