Happy Cyril & Methodius Day

So that's what my wiseacre friends say to me on this day, as I hand them my hand-stamped, paper-crimped valentines.

St. Valentine was simply demoted from the universal calendar, but today remains his actual feastday, because it is the day he was martyred. His martyrdom makes for a great story, one which I made a point of posting around campus, and I still share each year. Today is not about how pathetic you are for being single.

Today is about how much you can do to love God and your neighbor, especially because you are single. You can devote yourself more readily to acts of love and mercy because of your freedom. You can honor friends and family who love you.

Today, I am giving a double red blood donation to the Red Cross. Over 100 people received a valentine today that brought a smile to their face. Giving valentines is something I've done every year since Kindergarten. Granted, this was the first year I am not single. But that never stopped me from celebrating this day joyfully because Love is Mine, and it always has been. Even before I knew My Beloved, I was loved. And this was a day when I could share that fact with everybody.

Don't get bittersweet. Rather, tell the world how much you are loved by the greatest Lover of all. St. Valentine surrendered his all for this Love. Can you find it in your heart to do the same? Can you find it in your heart to give of yourself?

Maybe you can't donate blood, but perhaps you could bring flowers to a relative in a nursing home? or bring chocolates to someone in your office who has a spouse in the armed forces? or sponsor a child in the third world? or do any number of things than whine about being single. Read the Theology of the Body. Bake something for somebody.

But really, what could be more simple than to brighten someone's day with a valentine? When I was in Chicago, I took the red line every day and saw the same attendant behind the window. So I made that person a valentine. In college, the cafeteria ladies got a valentine every year for their labor of love. This year, the playground supervisors got a valentine.

Be creative. Be His Valentine.