An Aid To Memory

Today is Valentine’s Day, when millions of people worldwide give their loved ones roses, candies, and sometimes, even engagement rings. The holiday is all but secularized now, since in the Catholic Church, St. Valentine’s day celebrations are confined only to local calendars, and not the general calendar. This is because historical details about the real St. Valentine are sketchy. Why is his day associated with romantic love? It may be because of a Medieval belief that birds begin to pair-up on February 14th.

Today is actually Ss. Cyril and Methodius day in the General Calendar. They were 9th century missionaries to the Slavic lands. The Cyrillic alphabet is named after St. Cyril, although there is some debate now as to whether he invented the alphabet.

Have a happy Valentine’s day!

Image from: http://spinayarn.com/needlepoint.htm

This entry was posted on Monday, February 14th, 2005 at 3:01 pm and is filed under The Church Year. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.