Valentine’s Day a Great Opportunity to Model Love

Catholic Family

St. Valentine is the patron saint of love, young people and happy marriages. This third-century Roman saint has many inconsistent legends attributed to him—and though it is not known definitively whether the stories are about two different men with the same name, we do know that St. Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) is a perfect time to celebrate the sacrificial love that people of all vocations are called to. The Milwaukee Catholic Mamas shared how they share their love with the people in their lives and model love for their children.

Valentine’s Day is widely celebrated as a romantic holiday and can be hard for those without a romantic partner in their lives.

With a little bit of forethought, it is easy to make sure those who either have not yet found that partner or who are not called to married life are included in the love surrounding this day.

Tina S. is making sure that her best single girlfriend is not left out of the holiday by taking her to the Bucks game. If you do not have time to yourself to offer to a friend, a simple card or picture from your children can brighten someone’s day. If your child is too young to create their own masterpiece, feel free to use their footprints or just dress them up and send a snapshot.

Kendra Tierney of Catholic All Year (www.catholicallyear.com) has a free, printable spiritual bouquet to give—you (or your children) can check off that a rosary, a Mass, a prayer or a sacrifice was offered up for the recipient.

Some moms will be dining out, if they can snap up one of the sitters in the Milwaukee Catholic Babysitting group.

Angie W. invited people to the St. Valentine’s dinner at Schoenstatt in Waukesha on Feb. 13, where the evening’s proceeds go to the Schoenstatt Girl’s Youth. This celebration includes Holy Mass, a renewal of wedding vows, dinner, babysitting, entertainment and raffle baskets.

On the other hand, many mothers will be celebrating at home.

“I do a dessert board and dollar-store balloons. We exchange cards and give the kids a small gift. I love Valentine’s Day.” -Jamie G.

“One year, I made homemade pizza in the shape of a heart.” -Alexandria K.

“Last year, we did fondue and a heart-shaped cake for dinner.” -Liz H.

If your children are old enough to manage it, Tierney suggests allowing them to serve their parents for a special date night dinner at home. We are called to model healthy marriages for the world, and that includes modeling for our children.

No matter what they are doing, everyone agreed that they wanted to make it special for their spouses and children.

One mother shared an idea of putting a heart on your child’s door with something you love about them for each day from Feb. 1 through Feb. 14, and another mother commented how after she did this, her daughter saved some of the hearts. Pouring love into our children can have long-lasting effects.

Jessica M. is using the holiday to prepare her children’s hearts for their future vocations:

“I have my kids make Valentine’s cards for their future wives every year. We talk about it a few days ahead of time. What things to look for in a future spouse; are you worthy of all those awesome things you want in her; what are you working on right now to be a good man/husband someday? Then they write about it and draw a picture. Each kid has a binder and I’ve saved them each year. I plan to give them to their future spouses when they get married. And if they’re called to the priesthood, they can be love notes to his parish.”

No matter how you celebrate the holiday, I hope you have a happy one.

St. Valentine, pray for us.