10.7
Friday, February 12, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B • Page 3
St. Valentine's heart not in the right place
The Associated Press
DUBLIN, Ireland — A quiet Carmelite priory off a bustling Dublin street holds a special place in Irish hearts, for here lie the revered remains of St. Valentine.
At least that's what the splintering 163-year-old parchment from Pope Gregory XVI says—although it turns out that the Roman Catholic Church may have left St. Valentine's heart in Scotland and reserved other martyred body parts for his Italian hometown.
Still, that doesn't dissuade romantic Dubliners from claiming Valentine as theirs, and theirs alone.
"St. Valentine gave his life in defense of pure love. He's an inspirational figure," says Miceal Browne, kneeling at dusk inside Whitefriars Street Catholic Church beside his wife of 24 years. Aoife.
Like hundreds of other couples, the Brownes make pilgrimages to the church on their wedding anniversary in appreciation of St. Valentine, whose remains lie in a sealed steel casket within the chapel's white marble altar.
They plan to book a spot on the church's long waiting list to formally renew their vows in 2000.
Couples in Glasgow, Scotland, and Terni, Italy, make similar pilgrimages to rival resting places for Valentine, one of
Christianity's earliest saints, whose promotion of marriage cost him his life.
Claudius Caesar II ordered Valentine imprisoned because he oversaw the marriages of Roman soldiers in violation of Rome's edict that its soldiers remain single, on the grounds it made them better fighters.
The Benedictine priests of the Blessed John Duns Scotus Church in Glasgow insist the Vatican gave them the remains of the saint's heart in 1868.
Valentine was sentenced to death in 269 A.D. by a judge named Asterius. The future saint cured Asterius' daughter of blindness and wrote her a final letter the night before he was beheaded. He inspired today's romantic missives by signing it, "From your Valen tine."
"Often times, the church has seen fit to break up the remains of a saint to provide relics of veneration," explains the Rev. Peter Hall of the Scottish church.
"It would be good to set the record straight about — not to be too crude about it — but about whose bits are where." he adds.
The parish priest in Dublin, the Rev. Frank O'Gara, admits he's irritated by the rival claims. He points with determination to the January 1836 letter from Pope
accompanied wooden box from Rome.
The letter says that, in recognition of the good work of Irish Carmelites, the remains of St. Valentine had been exhumed from a Roman cemetery and put into the box, "well-closed, tied with a red silk ribbon and sealed with our seals."
"None of the other churches have such definitive proof," O'Gara says. "To be told that the tomb of B. Valentine in our church is somehow unauthentic or incomplete is annoying. Our parish's associations with the saint run very deep and true."
Miceal Browne says on Valentine's Day, it should be just the thought that counts.
"As a Catholic," he says, you've just got to have faith and not ask too many questions."
Valentine's history not candy-sweet
By Hilary Evans
Special to the Kansan
When lovers announce their devotion to one another on Valentine's Day with candy, balloons, poems and flowers, many don't know that the day's history is one of secrecy and deceit.
and promises to lovers be forgotten.
In A.D. 207, many wars broke out in the Roman Empire. Emperor Claudius Caesar II, known as Claudius the Cruel, called on many men to fight in these wars. The men summoned didn't want to leave their wives or lovers, and Claudius II was enraged that so few of his soldiers were prepared to fight for their country. He ordered that no marriages be celebrated
The Bishop of Interamna, Claudius Valentine, celebrated mass near the royal palace. He disobeyed the emperor's decree and secretly performed marriages. When Claudius II discovered the defiance, he imprisoned the bishop and had him clubbed and beheaded.
Legend suggests that while in prison Valentine fell in love with the jail keeper's daughter, who was blind. Valentine miraculously cured her. He closed a farewell letter to her before he died with the phrase, "From your Valentine."
Valentine was beheaded Feb. 14,
the eve of the Roman holiday called
the Feast of Lupercalia.
When Christianity was firmly established in Rome, the church replaced the Festival of Lupercalia with Valentine's Day.
This account of St. Valentine's history was compiled from information from the following Web sites:
■www.excite.com/directory/life
search=history+of%valentines%72%+dav
www.america.net/
seasonal/valentine/history.html
■ www.valentines.day.co.nz/history.asd
■ www.sweettechnology.com/
theme/valentine.htm
Holiday's meaning questioned
Some students think holiday too one-sided
By Becky Lake Special to the Kansan
The realization that Valentine's Day is approaching always brings the yearly question of what to buy a significant other.
Every year, both men and women struggle to answer that question in order to provide a perfect, or at least adequate, Valentine's Day experience.
some students said they regarded the holiday as a genuine celebration of love, while others said they thought it was expensive and commercialized.
But whatever Valentine's Day philosophy KU students believed, most said that gender roles were part of the holiday and certain responsibilities and expectations came with those roles.
Some men said they found the holiday one-sided, with the pressure of the day's success resting on their shoulders.
"Girls want more out of it and are more into the romantic side of it, while guys are just doing it for the girls," said Tarek Albaghal, Leavenworth junior.
Matt Paustian, Laramie, Wyo., senior, said that he thought a man's preparation for the holiday was done more to fend off consequences than to display love.
"I think it's something guys think they have to do or their girlfriends will get mad at them," he said.
Sylvia Chun, Merriam sophomore, and Zack Deeds, Shawnea sophomore, fight about what they will do for Valentine's Day. Chun said it was hard when one person wanted to do one thing and the other wanted to do something else. Photo illustration by Kate Levenson/KANSAN
Jen Burns, Shawnee senior, said she understood why some men despired the holiday.
"I think most guys dread it because the women always expect too much," she said.
Though some men are frustrated with the responsibilities of Valentine's day, others still see the holiday as a worthwhile celebration.
"I think it's an important holiday because even though it might have lost what it was supposed to be, it gives you the chance to catch up with the person you love and let them know again," said Tom Harris. Overland Park junior.
"Valentine's Day is the ultimate I'm sorry day," he said. "You can make amends on Valentine's."
Justin Carlson, Overland Park freshman, appreciated the holiday for a different reason. Carlson said he saw Valentine's Day as a convenient opportunity to escape possible relationship problems.
Though Carlson and Harris can find merit in Valentine's Day, not
all females echo their sentiments.
Nancy Wilcox, Winfield junior, found the holiday to be grossly commercialized.
"It is a holiday generated by Hallmark, Dove chocolates and flower companies," she said.
Emily Beste, Chicago, Ill., freshman, also said the holiday was depressing.
"I think most females generally don't like it because you either are not dating anyone and spend it alone, or you end up not getting what you wanted out of it," she said
sophomore, said she saw the holiday as fun regardless of dating status.
Yet Kate McGee, Loveland, Colo..
"I think it's a really fun day," she said. "You can make it fun regardless of whether or not you're single."
Despite conflicting opinions about whether Valentine's Day is worthwhile or worthless, both genders indulge in convention year after year.
Whether planning a romantic, special day for a loved one or merely going through the motions, men and women continually participate in a holiday they either love or despise.
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