Do you think that Valentine's Day is for the birds? Read or listen to today's podcast to find out if you are right. And don't miss our discount offer for the day.
I love the picking names idea—it is much like the community dance etiquette that expected the young men to ask any available young woman, so as few as possible are left not dancing, and young women are expected to accept a request to dance (at least once) from anyone who asks. It takes pressure off, certainly. And develops a general attitude of respect for the opposite sex. I wonder how the young people in those days handled the gift giving with its potential for teasing and misunderstanding. Was there a gentlemanly etiquette that allowed the young men (or women) to not worry about those things? Just curious. It seems like a revival of this, even with a crows in their early twenties, would be filled with the teasing and sneering that would happen among 8 year olds.
Sadly Saint Valentine’s Day has been co-opted by the same people who use the word “medieval” as a reproach and are lacking a Catholic imagination, not unlike Christmas and Halloween and Midsummer. We need to recover it in all its medieval glory….as with so much else.
Don't get me going, Father! The young folks are not dating, let alone marrying. The statistics on the sacrament of Holy Matrimony are devastating. That is Devastating with a capital D, and not in the US alone. There is a vocations crisis that people are largely in denial about. We are in the trenches, and we have been sounding the alarm for twenty years.
Don, that stinks. I am sorry to hear of your betrayal. The 14th is tinged with a sadness for us ever since the death of Tony's father on that day of cancer 35 years ago. But the day is not to blame. Our world is very broken. We are here trying daily to revive good things which have been lost and which are being purposely vilified and are disappearing from the world. We need these basic things to have any kind of human society at all. We have gone from rampant divorce to almost no marriage at all among our young. We need desperately to encourage people to reclaim the good.
I love the picking names idea—it is much like the community dance etiquette that expected the young men to ask any available young woman, so as few as possible are left not dancing, and young women are expected to accept a request to dance (at least once) from anyone who asks. It takes pressure off, certainly. And develops a general attitude of respect for the opposite sex. I wonder how the young people in those days handled the gift giving with its potential for teasing and misunderstanding. Was there a gentlemanly etiquette that allowed the young men (or women) to not worry about those things? Just curious. It seems like a revival of this, even with a crows in their early twenties, would be filled with the teasing and sneering that would happen among 8 year olds.
So everyone had 2 people to flirt with? What did the girls do with the boys name they picked
Sadly Saint Valentine’s Day has been co-opted by the same people who use the word “medieval” as a reproach and are lacking a Catholic imagination, not unlike Christmas and Halloween and Midsummer. We need to recover it in all its medieval glory….as with so much else.
Don't get me going, Father! The young folks are not dating, let alone marrying. The statistics on the sacrament of Holy Matrimony are devastating. That is Devastating with a capital D, and not in the US alone. There is a vocations crisis that people are largely in denial about. We are in the trenches, and we have been sounding the alarm for twenty years.
LOVE it. As always, thank you.
What made the weather colder after 1300?
Medieval SUV’s
Valentine’s Day: BAH HUMBUG!!!
On February 14, 1983 a judge signed documents for, from my side of things, an unwanted (no fault state so opposition was futile) divorce …
…it’s only been 42 years … I’ll get over it 😢…
Don Young
Columbus OH
Don, that stinks. I am sorry to hear of your betrayal. The 14th is tinged with a sadness for us ever since the death of Tony's father on that day of cancer 35 years ago. But the day is not to blame. Our world is very broken. We are here trying daily to revive good things which have been lost and which are being purposely vilified and are disappearing from the world. We need these basic things to have any kind of human society at all. We have gone from rampant divorce to almost no marriage at all among our young. We need desperately to encourage people to reclaim the good.
These are the best! Reading this post aloud to my family this morning. Thank you.
Thank you, Kate. Good to hear that!