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A reflection on St. Valentine's Day
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Today is one of those holidays when an Orthodox Christian feels
something very inappropriate is happening. It is February 14th, the Day
of love in the West. All of our cities are decked with bright and gaudy
red, pink and white hearts, pictures of doves and other
"love-birds", roses and pathetic, chubby creatures with fluffy
wings, bows and arrows representing cherubs. All of a sudden everyone is
remembering the ones they love, the sales of flowers and extravagant
heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are soaring, as are the prices… almost
every radio station is playing endless crooning melodies, while TV
commercials are enticing consumers to buy anything from clothes to
stereos "for their loved ones", not to mention the shopping
malls which actually sell these "love items." Many will enjoy
a one-day display of "love." The restaurants and theaters will
be full, but many hearts remain empty, in spite of all the gifts and
"symbols" of love.
It is sad that many Orthodox will take part in this holiday,
which is just another worldly fad. It is sad that they will forget that
on February 1st/14th our
Church commemorates St. Tryphon, who was martyred for the Faith he
witnessed, after unspeakable tortures, during the reign of the emperor
Decius in Nicea.
The Holy Priest-martyr Valentine, whom our Church remembers on
July 30th/August 13th, was slain for confessing the Orthodox Faith and
the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Rome during the reign of
one of the most ardent persecutors of Christians, Claudius II. He burned
with Christ's Love and because of this Love, the Love described by St
Paul in his First epistle to the Corinthians, he was martyred by the
pagans. Comparing the martyrdom of these two saints and the Christian
love that consumed their hearts with "Valentine's Day" as it
is celebrated in western countries today, one cannot help asking: what
kind of a distorted idea of love are we being taught by this
consumer-oriented outpour of "love?" What blasphemy is this,
what hypocrisy in front of that entire army of Christian Martyrs who
suffered and are still suffering today for their faith, out of Love for
Christ?
As of tomorrow all the pink hearts, chubby "angels",
candy boxes and flowers will be on sale, pushed into a corner of the
department store, and the doily-shaped advertisements will be replaced
by some other "symbol" of consumerist madness, perhaps this
time by pastel-hued bunny rabbits, hens, chickens and tulips,
caricatures that have as much in common with Christ's Resurrection as
the Holy Martyrs Triphon and Valentine have with the caricature of
"love", as much as the hideous figure of "Santa" has
with St Nicholas the Wonderworker, or the Nativity of our Lord with yet
another "Christmas shopping spree." By the prayers of the Holy Martyrs Tryphon and Valentine and all the holy martyrs who, in all times suffered for Your sake and the sake of Your Love, O Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on us and save us! |