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On Feb. 14 of each year, the Roman Martyrology commemorates the anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Valentine of Rome, who is considered the patron saint of lovers and married couples. Coincidentally, Feb. 14 this year is also Ash Wednesday, the day that marks the beginning of Lent. So how can dating Catholic couples and spouses observe both on the same day?
Very little is known about the life of St. Valentine, but tradition indicates that he risked his life to marry couples in a Christian way during the time of persecution against Christians. He was martyred around the year 269.
Today, St. Valentine’s Day is a time when couples express their love with gestures and gifts.
Ash Wednesday, however, is a day of fasting and abstinence for Catholics, which marks the beginning of the 40 days in which the Church calls the faithful to conversion and to truly prepare to live the mysteries of the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ in Holy Week.
For Brother Édgar Henríquez, a Chilean seminarian of the Legionaries of Christ, Catholics can observe the coinciding days in light of the mystery of the incarnation of the Lord, who “committed himself to us” by assuming human nature and suffering for the sin of man, in the same way that a married couple becomes one flesh and mutually “accepts their weaknesses, their failings, and their sin out of love.”
Henríquez, who is close to being ordained as a transitional deacon, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that “the commitment of a couple that is engaged or in a serious dating relationship and a married couple is a commitment of love, just as God has also assumed a commitment with us.”
With this way of looking at St. Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday, the Chilean seminarian offered Catholic married couples and those in a serious relationship five tips to observe Feb. 14 in the best possible way:
Continued below.
www.catholicnewsagency.com
Very little is known about the life of St. Valentine, but tradition indicates that he risked his life to marry couples in a Christian way during the time of persecution against Christians. He was martyred around the year 269.
Today, St. Valentine’s Day is a time when couples express their love with gestures and gifts.
Ash Wednesday, however, is a day of fasting and abstinence for Catholics, which marks the beginning of the 40 days in which the Church calls the faithful to conversion and to truly prepare to live the mysteries of the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ in Holy Week.
For Brother Édgar Henríquez, a Chilean seminarian of the Legionaries of Christ, Catholics can observe the coinciding days in light of the mystery of the incarnation of the Lord, who “committed himself to us” by assuming human nature and suffering for the sin of man, in the same way that a married couple becomes one flesh and mutually “accepts their weaknesses, their failings, and their sin out of love.”
Henríquez, who is close to being ordained as a transitional deacon, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that “the commitment of a couple that is engaged or in a serious dating relationship and a married couple is a commitment of love, just as God has also assumed a commitment with us.”
With this way of looking at St. Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday, the Chilean seminarian offered Catholic married couples and those in a serious relationship five tips to observe Feb. 14 in the best possible way:
1. The importance of words
Continued below.
5 ways to observe St. Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday
A seminarian from Chile offers couples some advice for marking both days on Feb. 14.
www.catholicnewsagency.com
