RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
NEWSLETTER
St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, Virginia Beach
February 12 (6th Sunday in Ordinary Time) & 13, 2017
John Domingo Dir. of Religious Education [email protected]
Mike Avery Coordinator of Youth Ministry [email protected]
Colleen Fickel Administrative Assistant
[email protected]
Church website:
www.sjavb.org
Church Facebook Page:
https://facebook.com/sjavb.org
Online calendar:
https://sjadre.keepandshare.com
Parish Office Number:
(757) 426-2180
REMIND group for Catechists & Aides: Text “@sjaccd” to 81010
The Real St. Valentine
“Be My Valentine!”
My first memories of
Valentine’s Day were when our family was transferred to
Norfolk for my dad’s next assignment. I was only 7 and
I started my new school around Valentine’s Day. Even
though I was the new kid, I got a number of Valentine’s
Day cards from my classmates. It was a great way to start
a new life!
It was only later that I discovered that we were
honoring a saint named Valentine and February 14th was
his feast day. So, who was St. Valentine?
According to Fr. William Saunders, the early
martyrologies of the Catholic Church mention three
different individuals all named Valentine, all of whom
were remembered on February 14th.
 The first St. Valentine was a priest and physician
in Rome who was martyred during the
persecution of Emperor Claudius II in 270 A.D.
A basilica was built over his tomb in the fourth
century by Pope Julius I, but his relics were
transferred to the Church of St. Praxedes near the
Basilica of St. Mary Major, where they still reside
today.
 The second St. Valentine was Bishop of
Interamna, which is present day Terni, Italy –
about 60 miles from Rome. He likewise was
martyred under the reign of Cladius II.
 The third St. Valentine was martyred in Africa
with several companions.
It should be noted that the name Valentine was a popular
name in early Rome, with his name in Latin meaning
“worthy, strong, or powerful.”
The pious stories built around the life of the first
two mentioned Valentines includes one of the main
reasons why he was arrested by Claudius – the secret
marriages of young men and women in the Catholic Faith.
Arrested for his disobedience and his faith, he was
instrumental in the physical healing of his judge’s blind
daughter. In his last correspondence with the young girl,
he supposedly signed it “From your Valentine.”
So, how did the feast day of
a Christian martyr become a day
associated with love and affection?
As early as the 14th century, it was
a belief in England and France that
birds began to pair up on February
14th – a belief that echoed by the
English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in
his “Parliament of Foules.” Written
and exchanged Valentines started
being distributed in the 18th century
and usually included a religious
sentiment of affection. Often, these
cards had a simplified version of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, which probably anticipated the popular image of
red hearts so associated with Valentine’s Day.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart flows from
apparitions of Jesus to a Visitation nun, St. Margaret Mary
Alacoque, in the 17th century. In these apparitions, he
revealed his Sacred Heart, telling her: “Behold the Heart
which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even
to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to
Its love.”
Scripture is filled with verses describing the love
of God for man. It would be good to reflect on some of
these verses in light of a day dedicated to expressions of
love:
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his
only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not
perish but might have eternal life.
John 13:34 – 35 – I give you a new commandment: love
one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love
one another. This is how all will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another.
Romans 5:8 – For God proves his love for us in that while
we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Romans 8:37 -39 – For I am convinced that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things,
nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature will be able to separate us from the love
of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 John 4:9 – 11 – In this way the love of God was
revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so
that we might have life through him. In this is love: not
that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his
Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved
us, we also must love one another.
environment” and to “defend the integrity and dignity of
persons.”
For more information, including prayers for the
sick and the official video for the World Day of Prayer, as
well as prayers for those who provide care for the sick (i.e.
doctors, nurses, health workers), please check out the
website from the Catholic Health Association of the US:
https://www.chausa.org/prayers/prayer-library/liturgicalprayers-and-reflections/solemnities-feast-days-andmemorials/world-day-of-the-sick
or the National Association of Catholic Chaplains:
http://www.nacc.org/resources/spirituality-and-prayerresources/world-day-of-the-sick/
World Day of Prayer for the Sick
National Marriage Week &
World Marriage Day
In October of 1992, Pope St. John Paul II
announced the first World Day of Prayer for the Sick,
to be celebrated every year on the feast of Our Lady of
Lourdes, February 11th. He called this celebration “a
special occasion for growth, with an attitude of listening,
reflection, and effective commitment in the face of the
great mystery of pain and illness.” He also asked the
Church to offer “one’s suffering for the good of the
Church”, reminding all of us that we “see in (our) sick
brother or sister the face of Christ who, by suffering,
dying and rising, achieved the salvation of mankind.”
Because of the numerous healings that have been attained
at the Marian Shrine in Lourdes, France, it was only
fitting to mark this day of prayer for the sick. This year
marks the 25th celebration of this event.
In 2017, Pope Francis has chosen the theme of
“Amazement at what God has accomplished: The
Almighty Has Done Great Things for Me” (Luke 1:49).
Remembering the apparitions of Our Lady to St.
Bernadette, the Holy Father reminds us to ask Mary
Immaculate “for the grace always to relate to the sick as
persons who certainly need assistance, at times even for
the simplest of things, but who have a gift of their own to
share with others.” He invites the Church to “work for
the growth of a culture of respect for life, health and
Since 1983, the second Sunday of February has
been designated “World Marriage Day”, as an extension
of the mission and ministry of Worldwide Marriage
Encounter. World Marriage Day honors husband and
wife as the foundation of the family, the basic unity of
society and received an apostolic blessing from Pope St.
John Paul II in 1993. “National Marriage Week” began
in the United States in 2002 and is celebrated every year
from February 7 – 14. It is an expression of Marriage
Week International, which is present in at least 20
countries.
The bishops of the United States see both
observances as “an opportunity to celebrate the gift and
blessing of marriage and to affirm and support engaged
and married couples.” In his letter promoting the 2017
celebration, Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia wrote
that “marriage, both as a natural institution and as a
Christian sacrament, is an irreplaceable good for society
and all people.”
For more resources:
“For Your Marriage” http://www.foryourmarriage.org/
World Marriage Day http://wmd.wwme.org/intro.html
National Marriage Week USA
http://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/home