Only "Bleeding Hearts" Survive: St. Valentine's Day & Martyrdom

So, apparently Saint Valentine was a 3rd century martyr. Even if this can be disputed, I still love the connection between Valentine's Day, as we have come to know it, and this idea of Saint Valentine, the martyr.

This connection between Cupid, who shoots your heart with arrows of Romantic love, and a Roman soldier, who might have pierced a martyr's heart quite literally with an arrow. Is there a connection? 

In our modern world, the path of least resistance seems to get championed. This is understandable, since our nature is inclined to take the easy way out. Our love and romantic relationships have become similar. There is something romantic in a love that has struggle, but overcomes. It can be a sort of martyrdom.

Martyrs died not because they believed it was pointless. But because "love is stronger than death." They believed they were entering into Eternal Life, where "God is love." And they would rather stay faithful "til death do them part" then deny Love, or deny Truth.

Love is often depicted as a heart; a "blank" heart. In Christianity, we are given the image of the Sacred Heart: Christ's heart. It is a heart depicted with a Crown of Thorns around it, and it is bleeding. This is a sorrowful heart but a Heart that loves: and loves deeply, sacrificially, and faithfully. Christ's heart is also a martyr's heart. Love went to the cross, where Love died. There is no more noble image for Valentine's Day than the crucifix. This is real, redeeming, and world-changing love. This is saving love.

So, let us "stay put" in our loves. Love with a warrior's heart, and a martyr's heart. Not always searching for feelings, superficial attraction, and everything to be "smooth sailing". Love can hurt, but if we can become acquainted with the sorrows and pains of love, we can share in its triumphs too. 

Only bleeding hearts survive. Take up your cross, and follow Him. You are loved.