Love: The Mysterious Power
It’s February! Love hearts are everywhere - cards, balloons, restaurant reservations - yes, Valentine’s Day is nigh. Madness, right? But where did this day actually come from?
When we lived in Dublin in 2006, we were just round the corner from Whitefriar Street Church, which houses the relics of St Valentine. My mum asked me to take her there, so off we went to visit the shrine. There was a visitor’s book, filled not only with declarations of love but also requests for help with driving tests, exams and the small stresses of everyday life. The shrine itself is impressively subtle - we even had to queue to see it and contains a small vessel believed to hold traces of his blood, along with other relics.
So who was Valentine and how did he end up inspiring such a mega-love industry? Well, historians believe there were a few Christian martyrs called Valentine around the time of the Roman Empire (3rd century AD). Their stories may have merged over time, creating the legend we know today. Valentine wasn’t made a saint immediately - the papacy as we know it today didn’t exist yet but he was recognised as a martyr for dying because of his faith.
The most famous story involves Claudius II, a feared Roman emperor. He banned young men from marrying, believing married soldiers made weak fighters. Valentine, a priest, totally disagreed and secretly married couples anyway! When Claudius discovered this, he imprisoned Valentine. But incarceration didn’t stop the priest; he cared for the sick and impoverished, and even ministered to fellow prisoners. The story goes that he befriended his jailer’s blind daughter and restored her sight. Before Valentine’s execution, he left her a note and signed it, ‘From your Valentine’. He was then executed on 14 February. Hardly ‘romantic’!?
Love. Touch.
You’re safe. You’re held. You can rest now. You are loved.
So when did Valentine’s Day become hearts, romance and commercialised? A few centuries later, the Church began to organise St Valentine’s feasts, honouring the martyr who defied Roman paganism. In the Middle Ages, poet Geoffrey Chaucer romanticised the day into courtly love. By the 1700s, printed Valentine cards became available - no more hand-writing poems yourself! The Victorian era really sealed the deal: cheaper printing and the Penny Post meant cards could reach everyone. Since the 1900s, Valentine’s Day has only grown bigger, with love at its heart… and a price tag attached.
But at its core, the story of St Valentine is about doing what’s right and fair. He listened, he cared, he comforted. And love, at its essence, is about care - the quiet kind. The kind that soothes, restores and reminds us we matter. We are often brilliant at caring for others but not so good at giving that same care to ourselves, especially when life gets stressful, demanding, or just plain crap. Touch, as I wrote last month, has a quiet way of saying: “You’re safe. You’re held. You can rest now. You are loved.”
This Valentine’s, love doesn’t have to be loud. It can be as simple as rest, warmth, and giving your body a little time. A facial, a massage or even just a few moments of mindful pause - little acts of care that remind you, you matter too.
