Valentine’s Day: A Different Look at the Holiday

“Regent students celebrate Valentine’s Day in various ways, showing the significance of the holiday for all people”

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Aisles in stores are bright pink as fluffy teddy bears and bags of teeny candy hearts are placed on shelves ready to be bought and given to starry- eyed couples. But as people prepare to celebrate, we can find deep significance in the holiday. Valentine’s Day means much more than giving roses or diamonds to our significant other. Caroline Leal, an online Regent student, comes from a large close-knit family and they celebrate Valentine’s Day in a non-traditional way. Each year on Valentine’s Day, Caroline’s family participates in a family gathering to honor each other. Her father and brothers prepare a special meal for her sisters and mother. Caroline’s brothers put up a large sheet to hide the pink and red Valentine’s decorations, which include a rose place setting for each lady. Caroline enjoys this Valentine’s tradition with her family. She knows that it will impact her brothers, noting

How a boy treats the females in his immediate family is very often a reflection of how he will treat his own wife and daughters in the future, and the Valentine’s Day lunch is just another reflection of the attitude of honor toward others — and especially, in this case, toward females — that they have embraced and continue to cultivate as godly young men.

While many people are against the holiday because of its romantic and commercialized connotations, it is important to remember that love does not just mean between boyfriend and girlfriend, or husband and wife. Valentine’s Day can be a day that is celebrated because it promotes God’s love. Former Regent student Jennifer Deen says, “I use February 14th as a day to celebrate the unconditional, unfailing love God has for us, and to remember that I am special and important to God and He’s all I need for now.”

The history of Valentine’s Day surrounds the martyred Saint Valentine who rebelled against a decree from Emperor Claudius II that prohibited soldiers from getting married, as noted by the History Channel’s website. Legend says that Valentine would still marry couples despite the ruling. From this bit of history, we can see that Valentine’s Day holds a lot weight for couples. Yet, it also means a great deal to relationships of all kind. Girlfriends give each other best friend gifts and mothers share “I love you” trinkets with their children.

Countries all over the world celebrate Valentine’s Day in various ways. In Latin America, it is known as “El Día del Amor y la Amistad,” or “The Day of Love and Friendship”. People in East Asia celebrate by exchanging sweets on February 14. But what exactly makes the holiday so special for all people? One word: Love. As it turns out, people do not just celebrate the day as a “lover’s day”, but as a day of love.

At Regent, in an atmosphere where Godly romantic relationships are widespread, family relationships and friendships are also viewed with extreme importance. Though Valentine’s Day holds the record for most flower, candy, and jewelry sales, those material items are a representation of the true meaning of the day. Student Kathryn Lopez’s take on Valentine’s Day is that “it is a holiday in which the masses acknowledge their search for love”.

When we realize that it is love and not just romantic relationships that are celebrated on Valentine’s Day, we can better see the significance in the holiday. So this V-Day, take a moment to do something special for those that you love and let it serve as a reminder of the love that God has for us.