The Dumbest Holiday

The worst day of the year is rapidly approaching again. I speak, of course, of St. Valentine's Day. It is, without a doubt, the dumbest holiday with the possible exception of Sweetest Day but since they pretty have the same theme I really sort of count them as the same holiday. Of course Sweetest Day is an even more ridiculous holiday but since it hasn't really caught on the way Valentine's Day has I have to sort of put it aside.

The dumbest thing is that no one can really definitively state where the whole holiday came from. It appears as if there were two Saint Valentines, for example. There was the Valentine of Rome who was a priest there in about 269 AD. He had a reputation of being a doctor in addition to being a priest and would often treat people even if they were unable to pay him.

The second guy is a Valentine of Terni. He was a bishop in what is now known as Terni in 197 AD. He was supposed killed by the Emperor Aurelian. Exactly why he has anything to do with the supposed holiday I have no idea. There are people who credit the holiday with the guy from Rome and there are other who credit the guy from Terni and then there are those who same both of them were the same person.

At one point the Catholic church had eleven recognized Valentine's days. So, if you want to add a little variety to your celebrations maybe you should pick January 7, May 2, July 16, August 31, September 2, October 25, November 1, November 3, November 11, November 13 or December 16. Of course if you happen to be dating one of those women who determines the fate of your relationship for the remainder of your lives together based upon what you do for Valentine's Day you may not want to tell her about those other dates or she may expect flowers, dinner and gifts on those dates as well.

There was also a guy named Valentinius of Alexandria. He was once a candidate for Bishop of Rome. He apparently taught a lot about love and marriage and the marriage bed was a big part of his view of Christian love. Whether or not this is where Valentine's Day comes from is still in debate.