Happy St. Valentine's Day

I didn't wake up this morning intending to post any updates, but this meme showed up in my Facebook news feed, and it was too good to pass by.To give credit where credit is due, this meme came from catholicmemes.com.

Who says Catholics don't have a sense of humor? He he. 

I don't have a problem with the whole "celebration of love" holiday, within reasonable limits (there's that pesky choleric side of me); but this meme did make me wonder what the real story of St. Valentine is. So I went and researched it, and this is what I found.


This information came from Catholic Online. I was originally going to use an entry in The Origional Catholic Encyclopedia, but it was a little too dry for my taste. If you want to check it out, feel free to follow this link

"Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith ineffectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards, to be beheaded, which was executed on February 14, about the year 270. Pope Julius I is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole to his memory, which for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta del Popolo, formerly, Porta Valetini. The greatest part of his relics are now in the church of St. Praxedes. His name is celebrated as that of an illustrious martyr in the sacramentary of St. Gregory, the Roman Missal of Thomasius, in the calendar of F. Fronto and that of Allatius, in Bede, Usuard, Ado, Notker and all other martyrologies on this day. To abolish the heathens lewd superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of girls, in honor of their goddess Februata Juno, on the fifteenth of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in billets given on this day."

Anyway, I'm not going to monologue about history this morning (too much homework to do). I simply wanted to share this bit of information and wish you all a happy Valentine's Day, whether it be with your sweetie, family, or friends. Love covers a much wider range of topics than just romantic relationships, and we can all benefit from St. Valentine's intercession.

St. Valentine — pray for us.

The 6 Second Challenge

This is a handout one of my teachers distributed in class towards the beginning of the term. It was relevant to a talk she gave about time and stress management, and the point was that we can do a lot in six seconds. Going to school and staying busy doesn't mean family and friends have to be neglected. I just thought it was inspirational and wanted to share with all of you. I'd credit the author, but I can't find this anywhere online, and I have no idea who wrote it.

6 Second Challenge

In 6 seconds you can kiss someone like you mean it.

In 6 seconds you can hold open a door.

In 6 seconds you can wait for a little straggler to catch up. "I'll wait for you," you can even say.

In 6 seconds you can take a deep breath.

In 6 seconds you can let it go. "It's not worth it," you can say.

In 6 seconds, you can throw away that picture, that pair of pants, that inner bully that keeps you from loving this day, this you.

In 6 seconds you can feel the sunshine.

In 6 seconds you decide it's time to stop looking back.

In 6 seconds you can whisper, "It's gonna be okay," to yourself or someone who's scared.

I used to sound like a broken record. "I don't have time," I would always say. But then I realized what could happen in a mere 6 seconds. 

It's enough to make a bad day good...

It's enough to bring life back to your weary bones...

It's enough to change someone's story...

It's enough to remember what really matters in the midst of so much that doesn't. 

I think these are moving words, especially this close to Lent. Perhaps that association might be a bit of a stretch, considering this isn't a religious poem, but it is about remembering what's important in the midst of a crazy world. In 6 seconds, you can whisper a short prayer or turn your heart towards God. You can just take a moment to remember why you're here on earth.

Anyway, I'll leave you with those thoughts this morning. Happy Wednesday, everyone!