I just received this email:
Dear Seraphic,
I hope you are willing to publish this email. With Valentine's Day soon approaching, I was wondering if you would allow us single ladies to commence an Operation St. Valentinus for you? I propose that we, your readers do a novena to St. Valentine for your intentions, whatever they may be. The blog has seen a lot of discussion about the struggle of single life- Valentine's Day seems like a great opportunity to let the crosses do some good. We can start on Wednesday, February 6 and end on the 14th. Here's a simple prayer:
Almighty God, grant we beseech You,
that we who celebrate the glorious martyrdom of St. Valentine, Your
servant, may by his intercession be filled with the love of God and
neighbor and be delivered from all the evils that threaten us.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
that we who celebrate the glorious martyrdom of St. Valentine, Your
servant, may by his intercession be filled with the love of God and
neighbor and be delivered from all the evils that threaten us.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
I hope Protestant and other Singles of Good Will will join us too!
Thanks for your continued blogging,
Yes, yes! By all means, begin Operation Valentinus. As you may recall, the first part of Operation Valentinus is to send cards and/or chocolate to 3-5 fellow Single friends. You sign up here, and you go ahead and send. The idea is that you do something nice for someone who might otherwise get nothing for Valentine's Day. Then, even if you get nothing, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you have spread some affection into the lives of other girls.
The second part of Operation Valentinus is to plan something fun with dateless Single friends to do on the night of February 14. I recommend this involve staying in, as the restaurants will be full of smirking or scowling couples and the bars swarming with sexual opportunists. ("Why are you girls alone on Valentine's Day?") One great anti-Valentine's Day comedy is Private Benjamin. It is not for children, but it is very funny indeed and one of the greatest films of the "romance is not everything" genre.
Some people find the idea of Operation Valentinus unnecessary and merely playing into society's artificial obsession with Valentine's Day. And indeed if you live in a place that is not plastered with Valentine's Day stuff (e.g. much of Continental Europe), you probably don't feel like you are missing out on something. But where I lived for most of my life, Valentine's Day was indeed a Big Fat Deal and its emphasis on popularity/romantic success was palpable even in grade school, where people counted up their valentines. So I think that where you cannot escape Valentine's Day reminders, it is best to embrace the day by sending some affection your Single friends' way.
My St. Valentine's novena intention is for an increase in pastoral sensitivity around the needs of Single Catholics, in particular more homilies about the Single Life.
FWIW, B.A. and I are not doing anything for Valentine's Day because he flies back to the UK the day before. We didn't do this on purpose; that's just the way the flight schedule crumbles.
***
Married Lady tip: Married Ladies should think very carefully about whether or not to send Valentine's Day stuff to Single female friends. (Sending stuff to unrelated Single male friends is out of the question.) Like copies of Seraphic Singles, Valentine's stuff seems to get a warmer welcome when it comes from fellow Singles. I get more cautious about this the older I get.
