One Special Valentine
 February 13, 2005
 
 Roses are red, violets are blue, 
 I so love to see
 your face in the pew!
 
Of all the rhymes we have ever toyed with, Valentine’s Day prose is probably the most adapted piece of poetry any of us have ever scrawled on a heart to give to another.  Next to religious literature, music and poetry, songs of love are the most composed, sung and written verses that humankind has ever produced. 

Our expressions of love have evolved over the centuries largely through the intervention of religious and early mythological figures, which have influenced the customs and traditions of every society regardless of how primitive or sophisticated they may be. I would like to share with you this morning some facts about the origins of Valentines Day, a day that really should be the most sacred holiday celebrated by UU’s all over the world. I will explain that statement in a moment but first a bit of Valentine history.

From the earliest of our historical records our custom of Valentines Day began in the 4th century B.C. in celebration of an important spring festival, called Lupercalia. On the eve of Lupercalia which was traced back to our modern date of February 14th  the Romans engaged in an annual young men’s rite of passage to appease two important Gods; Pan, the God of shepherds and country people, and the goddess Juno, ( no not “Juno” the Web Site!)  but “Juno”, who was goddess of marriage and the guardian of women. 

At the beginning of the celebration, two boys of noble birth were selected to be anointed with the blood of goats sacrificed at the cave of Lupercal, The cave was named for the mother wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus, the legendary wolf boys who were believed to be the founders of Rome.

The names of all the teenage women, in the form of a lottery, were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men. 

The boys would then run through the streets of Rome chasing the girl whose name he had chosen, in an attempt to strike her with a lash of goatskin. These sacred skins were called februa, origin of the word February. Once a girl was stuck with the sacred skin it was believed to promise her fertility and easy delivery of children. The couple would be partnered for a year until the next festival and the ritual lottery would be repeated all over again.

This rite of passage survived until the 4th century A.D. when Christianity was mandated as the lawful religion of the Roman Empire. This is when it gets tricky! Naturally, as with all of the existing Christian holidays, the early church felt threatened by these pagan practices but like so many other seasonal rituals practiced by the common people, the church had to find a way to incorporate them in a fashion that would allow the festivities to continue, but would alter the meaning to suit the churches own theology. Thus the old Gods and goddesses, in whose name the festival took place, had to be replaced by Christian saints. So the church went hunting for a figurehead who could be associated with Lupercalia and February 14.th  They came up with Valentine, a young bishop who lived in the third century AD, at a time before Christianity became the lawful religion of Rome.

Back then, the Roman Emperor Claudius 11, issued an edit that forbade marriage among his soldiers, as he believed that his soldiers would refuse to go to war because their thoughts would be with their families rather than on the battlefield. However, a good old Christian Bishop named Valentine took exception to this edict and invited young lovers to come to him in secret where he joined them in marriage. 

Claudius found out what Valentine was doing and impressed with his convictions, Claudius had him brought to the palace where he attempted to convert him to a belief in the Roman Gods, to save him from execution.  

Valentine could not be persuaded and refused to renounce Christianity. Ironically, on February 14th 270 AD, Claudius, stoned, clubbed and beheaded  the poor Rev. Valentine.

History claims that while Valentine was in prison awaiting execution he fell in love with his jailer’s blind daughter, Asterius. The church claimed that while imprisoned he miraculously restored her sight.  Just before his execution he signed a farewell message to her, “ From Your Valentine.”

Well, the church had found their martyr and their hero, the ideal candidate to replace the popularity of Lupercus.  In 496 AD Pope Gelasius outlawed the Lupercalian Festival and replaced it with the churches own holy day in memory of St. Valentine. A festival was allowed but the lottery was changed. Now into the box that once held the names of eligible young women Gelasius ordered that they be replaced with the names of saints, whose names were drawn by both men and women. They were expected to spend the year trying to emulate the life of these saints. Needles to say there were many disappointed participants!

Now this is where it gets interesting.  All of our conflicts, both social and territorial, right from the earliest records, through biblical writings, to the historic, social and political conflicts of the centuries that followed - everything that has defined religion and ritual - has its roots in definitions of Love. Basically, and sadly, the struggle, warfare, tyranny, and the persecutions all boiled down to a battle over who God loves the most and whose beliefs should reign above all. Is it the pagan, the Jew, the Christian, the Muslim, the Hindu, the unchurched?  

Way back, even beginning with the crucifixion of Jesus, when all of this conflict began, we [those would tended towards a UU view]came upon the scene and questioned the authority of the church to dictate one religion to all people. Thus we were declared a heresy.  ( Note:  our evolution starting with Gnostics began…)

We were named as such because we did not become a part of the great tug of war to become Jesus’ successor, as the heads of a new church in his name. Instead, for a time, we slipped under the radar and emerged in a variety of forms that spoke of the love of God as non judgmental and accessible to all people not just the clergy and the politicians. 

Way back then, we heard Jesus expressions of love a bit differently, and took them to heart, as he became for us the greatest humanist that ever lived, a true child of God as are we all. He was unfettered by a love of material things, awesome in his understanding of a kinder, gentler new law, built upon love of one another as the only true expression of God. Jesus intended to improve upon Judaism with no intention to replace it with a new religion. Soon after his death the conflict over continuing leadership, morphed into an ongoing warfare for dominance and power. Each faction offered one restrictive and dogmatic truth on how God should be worshipped and understood.

Jesus’ law of his living was, and still is our motto, God is Love. It is a love for the uniqueness of all people, a love that comes to us through prayer and meditation, through music and murals, and the genius of science; through the wonder of the massive expanse of the galaxies and the miracle of a tiny new life. How extraordinary and simple a message, and we have managed somehow to hold on to it, to cherish it and to encompass all who believe that faith is inherent in all of us, expressed as differently as we are different.

God is Love, for all races and families. It is not a prejudicial critique for power and domination. It is not a judge of how love happens, or who it comes to, it is rather a charge for taking personal responsibility for our love and just actions toward one another. God is love for all faiths that are willing to put down their hatred, their narrow definitions of who God can love or not, and look back at the true message and teachings upon which we as a society have built our political and law.

For us Valentines Day should be our most treasured, sacred and holy of holidays. 

It is what all of this church business is all about. Simply, without fanfare or frills. We have through the centuries stood up for the simplicity of that message and that is why we have no creed for you to memorize. That is why our rites of passage are personal and unique, not a fill in the blanks boiler plate. 

That is why we have no issue with same sex couples who deeply and responsibly love each other. That is why we have ordained women ministers since the 1863 and welcomed Wiccans among our numbers along with Christians and Jews and Pantheists and anyone else who believes that God, in all the amazing ways the spiritual comes to us…is purely Love.

You and me, the person sitting next to you. The kid down the street, the elder whose driveway you shoveled, the child you taught, the couple next door are all a gift of this remarkable life. Yes we are all indeed, one special Valentine.  How amazing! How truly, amazing.

 So be it
 Amen