Putting the Saint in Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was especially fun this year because it landed on a Friday and a partial day. My own memories of creating the perfect box to store my Valentines filled my mind as I saw proud students carrying anything from a decorated plastic bag to a full-on basketball court box. As long as there was a place to store the cherished Valentines, all students were satisfied.

After hearing that the feast day was for Saints Cyril and Methodius, I decided to do a little research on why St. Valentine was not on the list and what led to February 14 being such a well-known and celebrated holiday. After looking into St. Valentine's life, I found that not much is known about him, and there are possibly two men who could have been the St. Valentine. Because of this, Saints Cyril and Methodius outrank him (especially since he isn't as well-known outside of the US). I found that St. Valentine is known for love because he secretly married couples in the Christian church when it was forbidden by law. However, there are many different versions of his possible life, and most are not 100% confirmed.

Although St. Valentine remains somewhat of a mystery, there was much love and selfless giving at St. Peter last Friday. I know everyone loves to get candy, but I think this is one of the holidays where even young students find more joy in giving their various treats and trinkets to their classmates, teachers, and family. Even I was spoiled with a large bag of candy from the second grade class--some specifically for my unborn baby, but I sure didn't want it to expire!

By the end of the night, the "candy drawer" at my house was stuffed, but seeing and knowing the joy that the students (and my own family) had by simply giving made me feel even more blessed than my mountain of Reese's.