Oh that is so neat that you went to catechism too. I really loved the
Catholic church back then when I was 11, 12, 13. We had this really really
old church and our school was attached to the church. It was built in 15
hundred something. I can't remember the exact year. There was a metal plaque
on the outside wall that told about it. It had really high ceilings and big
rough hewn timbers that were supposedly built by the Indians and the
priests. 6 feet thick walls. There were rumors that priests were buried
there in those walls. I used to visit the church every afternoon after
school for a few minutes and just think and meditate. It was so beautiful
with those Italian statues. I especially loved the one of St. Michael. Even
now I think of St. Michael as looking like that statue and it had stained
glass windows on the sides. I wanted to join the Catholic Church but my dad
wouldn't let me as we were all protestants. I wanted to be a Maryknoll
Missionary at that time too and go to far countries and save people.
That is really neat that you were confirmed as Mary. I always think that
there is a reason for mistakes and that God makes things happen for a
reason. You seem like a Mary to me too.
I loved the latin language. We had these little booklets and they had all of
the mass in latin and English and I learned from those little books. I
remember at Christmas I could sing all the verses of Come All Ye Faithful in
latin by memory. I have forgotten so much of it. That is so cute that you
asked your mom what the priest was saying. I bet you looked so beautiful at
your first communion and confirmation. I can just see you in your little
white dress.
It is so sad about the Girl Scouts. It was so much fun to be in it back
then. We had our meetings at the school once a week and wore our uniforms. I
felt so accomplished to be a member. We learned so much. I don't remember
camping trips. I don't know if we were not allowed to go on them or what. I
remember being taught about survival and what to do if we got lost. And we
learned cooking and sewing and etiquette. It was fun. Yes I agree I loved it
too in those days. I have some photos of the church and need to find them
and post them.
Love
Cheryl
_____
From: naturalrabbit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:naturalrabbit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Janet G
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2021 11:34 PM
To: naturalrabbit@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [naturalrabbit] Re: Who Was St. Valentine? How a Martyred Saint
Inspired Valentine's Day
Yes, it was catecsim Cheryl. Sorry, it's been so long I just forgot. I
didn't go to catholic school though, I went every week to catechism after
school, went to church every Sunday and yes it was in Latin, but I use to
ask mom what the priest was saying, you were smart to learn some of the
language. I went through the holy communion and confirmation also,
confirmation was special to me. The priest who blessed me gave me the wrong
name though, i was supposed to be confirmed as Elizabeth but he confirmed me
as Mary, oh well ...I loved the Girl Scouts too it was different I am sure.
I don't know anyone who is in it now. We use to go on the most wonder
camping trips and we would learn about survival in the wild how to find our
tracks if we got lost and how to find our way back with markers. I loved it
in those days,
Love, Janet
On Mon, Feb 15, 2021 at 9:48 PM Cheryl Gehrke <cheryl_g@xxxxx> wrote:
Yes, it was the girl scouts who put on the play. Our leader was a very
staunch catholic woman. We were proud to earn our badges and learn from her.
It wasn't like the Girl Scouts of today. I wouldn't even consider being in
the Girl Scouts of today. It is sad. Just like the Boy Scouts. It is just
not the same. She was really nice and very strong in the church. She thought
it would be a good idea to put on a play for St. Valentines day to honor the
saint and let people know more about him. It would have been a good serious
play if not for our clumsiness which kind of turned it into a comedy of
sorts. I didn't know about St. Valentine until we did this play. It was neat
going to that church. The priests gave mass in Latin and I learned a lot of
Latin from the masses. I remember catechism. We had it in our school classes
though. I don't know about any other classes or I forgot. I cannot remember
any other classes.
Love
Cheryl
_____
From: naturalrabbit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:naturalrabbit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Janet G
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2021 9:19 PM
To: naturalrabbit@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [naturalrabbit] Re: Who Was St. Valentine? How a Martyred Saint
Inspired Valentine's Day
Oh I thought you were talking about learning about Valentine in Catholic
School. Not catechism, what were the classes that we used to go to once a
week at the Catholic Church. I learned about st Valentine's from mom mostly
and it was always something I was interested in so I did my own studying
just to understand Valentine's day.
Very interesting the play that you were in. I am surprised so you are saying
that is from the girl scouts? Love, Janet
On Sun, Feb 14, 2021, 7:46 PM Cheryl Gehrke <cheryl_g@xxxxx> wrote:
Well it wasn't really in catechism. It was really put on by the Girl Scouts.
We were a small troop and I think we only had about 4 or 5 members. We
learned all kinds of really good stuff there. Our troop was sponsored by
the Catholic Church there and we did all kinds of things like that. All the
higher classes 7th and 8th grades were brought in and they got to see us.
It was the Hilton Mt. Carmel school in Socorro, New Mexico. I loved that old
church. Grade 1 through 8 and then we had to go to regular high school. We
only did the St. Valentine play when I was in the 8th grade and then I had
to go to High School. I don't know if they continued it after we went to
high school or not.
Love
Cheryl
_____
From: naturalrabbit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:naturalrabbit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Janet G
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2021 4:35 PM
To: naturalrabbit@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [naturalrabbit] Re: Who Was St. Valentine? How a Martyred Saint
Inspired Valentine's Day
Wow Cheryl. Sounds like you really got into it. We never had plays in
catechism like that.but I think he's a pretty amazing man
Love,
Janet
On Sun, Feb 14, 2021, 3:30 PM Cheryl Gehrke <cheryl_g@xxxxx> wrote:
Yes I always thought it was so neat. I went to a Catholic school when I was
younger. In the 6th, 7th and 8th grades. I joined the Girl Scouts when I was
in the 7th and 8th grades and we learned about St. Valentine. We had this
little play in our school cafeteria where Linda Devlin and I played the
Roman soldiers and Sylvia Kimball played St. Valentine. We practiced the
play many times and we had cardboard swords covered with aluminum foil and
since we had practiced so many times, our swords were kind of getting a
little worse for wear, so when we had the play in front of all the kids in
our school, we brought St. Valentine out who was dressed in her moms bath
robe and threw him (her) in our little jail which was a big cardboard box
and we asked him (Sylvia) to renounce Jesus and she said no,no I will never
renounce Jesus. So Linda and I said then you are going to die. We took her
out of the prison and she tripped over her moms bath robe and fell down.
(Laughter) We picked her up roughly and we tied her up to a pole. Then we
stabbed her with our swords, and both of our swords bent in half. All the
kids cracked up laughing. Even the nuns had a hard time keeping a straight
face. It was not supposed to end that way. So every Valentines Day I think
about that. I think also about how hard it was back in those days to worship
God and believe and worship Jesus, and how many people died for their belief
in Jesus especially with the Romans as they had their own gods and wanted
everyone to believe and worship their gods which were idols. So many died in
horrible ways. They were not compassionate people those Romans. And how
Jesus said to endure to the end, even in death. All the Christians had to do
was worship the statue of Diana one of their goddesses but they refused to
do it. They endured to the end.
Love
Cheryl
_____
From: naturalrabbit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:naturalrabbit-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Janet G
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2021 12:39 PM
To: naturalrabbit@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [naturalrabbit] Re: Who Was St. Valentine? How a Martyred Saint
Inspired Valentine's Day
Isn't that so awesome that valentines days origins began with this amazing
and beautiful saint who was martyred and died for Jesus. I knew about him
when I was growing up, raised as a catholic. And every year I tribute part
of the day for him, like st. Francis he was so special. I didn't know about
the bees though which thrills me to pieces. We could sure use him in this
mess we are in now.
There are so many martyrdom stories associated Valentine's Day, st
Valentine's was imprisoned for ministering to Christians persecuted under
the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. It was even said that this saint
healed and restored the sight to a blind daughter of his jailer. Then the
legend went on and claimed he wrote the jailers daughter a letter and signed
it "your valentine" as a farewell before his execution, and performed
weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry.
Thanks for sharing.
Love, Janet
On Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 10:03 AM Evonne Vey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
If you lived in the early first few centuries AD, and didn't have as much
historical <https://carm.org/manuscript-evidence> documentation as the New
Testament, a great deal of legend or myth would happen to arise about your
life.
Such is the case with St. Valentine (or Valentinus), of the third century
AD, from whom we best know the holiday associated with him on February 14 -
Valentine's Day.
But certainly something went awry from the life of a celibate saint whose
legacy has turned into a day where significant others hand each other
chocolates and candies. What all do we really know about this martyr? And
what myths have developed about him over time?
We'll dive into the true life of St. Valentine and separate the fact from
the fiction.
Photo credit: Pexels/Ylanite Koppens
Facts about St. Valentine
Unfortunately, because St. Valentine lived more than 1700 years ago, we
don't have many solid details on his life. Because, as mentioned before, we
don't have 5600 Greek manuscripts corroborating the evidence and details of
his life, as we do have for the New Testament, we have only some skeletonic
facts about the
<https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/who-was-st-valentine-509916.
html> life of this Saint.
First, we do know that St. Valentine lived during the mid to late 3rd
century. As a refresher in church history, this was a period of intense
persecution in Rome prior to Constantine's reign in Rome in the 300s AD
where <https://www.gotquestions.org/Constantine-the-Great.html> he
legalized Christianity.
We know that St. Valentine was working as a Roman priest during the reign of
an emperor named Claudius, as explained by
<https://www1.cbn.com/st-valentine-real-story> David Kithcart in this
article. The emperor's nickname,
<https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/st-valentine-beheaded> Claudius
the Cruel, can give readers a hint at some of the persecution Christians may
have endured under his rule. What's more, many Romans experienced some
persecution under the emperor as well.
As stated in the History.com article linked above, Claudius likely believed
that the reason the Roman army wasn't as formidable as possible was because
husbands wanted to stay at homes with their wives and families instead of
fighting in wars.
To combat this, Claudius made marriage and engagements illegal in Rome to
sway male soldiers to stay in the Roman army and not worry about a
significant other back home.
Valentine, a proponent of marriage, especially Christian marriage, married
many couples in secret.
When Claudius II discovered him, explains Kithcart, he sentenced Valentine
to a three-part execution: beating, stoning, and then a beheading. Most
believe St. Valentine was killed during the year 270 AD, but some have
debated whether his death happened during one of the surrounding years.
Valentine has since become a patron Saint of
<https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/love-bible-verses/> Love,
and actually, a patron saint of beekeepers, explains
<https://www.worldvision.org/economic-empowerment-news-stories/saint-valenti
ne-day-beekeepers> this article from World Vision, since bees are often
equated as an aphrodisiac.
<https://www.worldvision.org/economic-empowerment-news-stories/saint-valenti
ne-day-beekeepers>
St. Valentine: Patron saint of beekeepers | World Vision
There's more to St. Valentine than Valentine's Day, romance, and love. He's
the patron saint of beekeepers. See ...
--
Janet
"Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he had saved the whole world"
--
Janet
"Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he had saved the whole world"
