The Spirit of Valentine
"Remember your Valentine"
Howdy, folks! Welcome back to Further Up & Further In. There have been quite a few new faces who have subscribed in between Christmas and today, and I’m glad you’re here. If you’re new, please note that this Substack is devoted to the intersection between faith and the arts as we venture together through daily life.
That may seem a bit too broad, and perhaps a little vague, but I like to keep my options open. In the past, I’ve used this space as an outlet to meditate on parenting, story genre, philosophical concepts, and other musings that come to mind. It also doubles as my newsletter for Bright Morning Star Press, the homebase for my various works of fiction.
Again, I’m glad you’re here.
After taking January off to enjoy the new year, I’m back today on Valentine’s Day. Had a wave of sickness not decimated our household for a few weeks, I may have come back at the end of January. However, this has proven a good as time as ever. In a world that often feels dark and hopeless, love — true, godly love — is as precious as ever.
The things one remembers about childhood are quite fascinating when reflected on so many years later. The countless trips to the park blend together as a blob of joyful play, the untold number of Saturday mornings watching cartoons reflect a spirit of adventure, and the books one once lived in are looked back on fondly. The same is true of holidays.
Every year, my mother, without fail, would redecorate the house for the different holidays. When October came around, there would be ceramic pumpkins with our names carved in the mouth. For December, a Christmas village and plenty of ornaments and lights. Eastertime always included crosses, bunnies (my mother loves bunnies), and bright, comforting colors. Summer was usually pretty bare, save for occasionally early July.
Even Saint Patrick’s Day brought a wave of green into the Petty house. Shamrocks and leprechauns and all that. Yet, one of the times of year I most looked forward to, despite my general uninterest in modern holiday conventions, was early February, where bright reds, meaningful hearts, and a certain book would be proudly displayed in our family room.
Today, February 14th has become a Hallmark holiday where we celebrate vague notions about the meaning of love and how much we appreciate those around us. No doubt, I was always touched by my mother’s affections when she placed handwritten Valentines at the foot of our bedroom doors before we even awoke those mornings. I look back on those fondly, and it’s something I look forward to passing on with our girls when they’re older.
As a child, you wonder how traditions start. Where they came from. Why they are the way they are. Valentine’s Day is no different. Wise in anticipating this, every February, my mother displayed a book by Robert Sabuda simply titled Saint Valentine. And every year, I read it wondering if the beautiful story of the titular saint were true.
As the tale goes, Saint Valentine was a physician who lived in 3rd century Rome, at a time when Christians were still heavily persecuted by the governing authorities.
Yet, when a Roman jailer brings his blind daughter to the doctor — who has quite the reputation around the city — Valentine welcomes them in. He treats her and befriends her, and, over time, the three of them become quite close.
Tragedy befalls Valentine when he is arrested for his faith and, while in prison, hands the jailer a scroll for his daughter. When she opens it, her father tells her that it’s from “her Valentine,” and she miraculously regains her sight.
It’s a wonderful story. As a child, it was one that I was always happy to revisit because, through the mosaic-inspired artwork and the beautiful simplicity of Valentine’s love, Sabuda was able to convey that Valentine’s Day (also called St. Valentine’s Day or the Feast of St. Valentine) was not simply about flowers, and notes, and chocolates, and telling people how much you love them. It was about giving of yourself so freely, so truthfully, that the love of God is displayed in you.
There is more to the Valentine story. According to Father Frank O'Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, there’s a larger context to Valentine’s arrest that Sabuda never discloses in his book.
In the 260s A.D., Emperor Claudius had decreed that young Roman men were not to marry. This was seen as a military strategy, a school of thought that believed men would be far more willing to fight and die if they weren’t in danger of leaving behind loved ones at home.
Following the age-old scriptural passages concerning honoring marriage (Hebrews 13:4) and not forbidding it (1 Timothy 4:3), Valentine is said to have performed secret (and sacred) marriage ceremonies for young couples away from the prying eye of Rome.
Because Roman culture was so polygamous, he reinforced the idea that God commands marriage to be between simply one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24), which was as counter-cultural then as it seems today.
"The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about,” Father O’Gara told CBN. “And he secretly married them because of the edict." In doing so, Valentine was eventually arrested and later put to death, standing up for not just love, but God’s holy command and plan for the sanctity of marriage.
For Saint Valentine, love was far more than a feeling of romance or joy or burning passion, but an action he could take to ensure it was preserved, and preserved truthfully. It’s for this reason that he would be called “the patron saint of lovers.”
As Father O’Gara notes, “there comes a time where you have to lay your life upon the line for what you believe. And with the power of the Holy Spirit we can do that —even to the point of death."
This is why, centuries later, Valentine’s Day was celebrated by the Church. Over time, it, like Christmas, Halloween, Saint Patrick’s Day, and Easter, has come to be celebrated by more than just Christians. It is now an international phenomenon that has been, frankly, commercialized into diluting its meaning.
It is only through the proper lens of seeing Valentine himself — officially recognized in his sainthood by the Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, and Orthodox denominations — that Saint Valentine’s Day can be fully understood. His commitment to love, healing, prayer, and self-sacrifice is an inspiration to all of us. His life and death signify that though our time here is temporary, how we use it matters.
It can quite literally help change the world.
This year, I bought Robert Sabuda’s Saint Valentine to read to my girls. It may not tell the full story, but it was enough to whet my appetite for better understanding the historical reasons behind this annual celebration. My hope is that, one day, the Little Miss and Half-Pint may come to understand them, too. Truly, Love does conquer all.
It’s been a few months since my last writing update, but I am excited to share with you my current progress and hopes for 2025.
Back in December, you all were promised a new tale in the Bear-tooth Mountain Archive that was set to be released on New Year’s Eve. As you have no doubt realized, this didn’t happen. Midnight of the Century is a story I am incredibly excited to share with you, but unfortunately, the holidays (and two young girls) got away from me, and so my last round of edits did not get finished in time. Never fear, this story will be released on New Year’s Eve 2025 — and though it’s hard to wait that long to share it with you, I believe it’s worth the wait.
On another note, I wrote a Weird Western short story in January that I have submitted to be a part of a Weird West anthology that an indie publishing house is currently putting together. Though I have yet to hear back, I remain confident in the material. Even if this results in a rejection, there are other outlets where you will likely end up reading this story. If you enjoyed A Standoff at the Gates of Hell, as published by Silence & Starsong Magazine last year, you will certainly like this story as well.
Additionally, I have been working on a secret project for my wife in honor of her birthday this month. It has stretched my writing ability as I am working in a medium that I haven’t used in quite a while, but one I remain intimately familiar with. It’s been a joy, and I hope she enjoys it.
Lastly, though I have a few other short stories planned for this coming year (including one I’m hoping to publish via Amazon around Easter), I really want to get back into working on Holy Man.
For those unaware, Holy Man is a novel I have been working on for quite some time now. It’s a neo-Western-styled theological thriller that I have been toying with since 2018, back when I first wrote the story as a television pilot script. Having gotten wonderful feedback on it from Hollywood producers, I thought it might be better to turn it into a novel. That process has been painstakingly rewarding.
In 2025, I hope to write more stories than ever, sharing some with you here on this Substack and others via published outlets across the interwebs and in print. Having ended 2024 with my first Substack serial, Honor Thy Father, I hope to release another sometime this year. Stay tuned!
WHAT I’M READING: Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes — Aside from Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda, I have been reading quite a bit lately. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact book at the moment, but I’ll highlight Disciplines of a Godly Man because it’s what we are currently going through in a weekly men’s study I attend. Challenging, thoughtful, and well-written, Hughes’ insights on what it means to be disciplined in this world have been quite helpful.
WHAT I’M WATCHING: Stranger than Fiction — Recommending movies and television on here is always hard, because (as with most fiction these days), there’s always something I don’t love or an idea that I disagree with. That said, I really enjoy Stranger than Fiction. Is this Will Ferrell’s best role? Without a doubt. There’s a lot to like about this movie, and that’s in no small part due to the fascinating way the narrative itself is constructed. From a pure storytelling point of view, it’s quite inspired.
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: Fiddler On the Roof soundtrack — Since Christmas, I have not listened to a ton of music, I am sorry to say. Even podcasts have been sort of out of the picture for me currently. But the other day I had “If I Were A Rich Man” stuck in my head, and I went around the house singing, “Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum” to myself. Excellent soundtrack, and if you haven’t seen the 1971 film, what are you waiting for?
Love the story of Saint Valentine! Thank you for sharing it brother.