From the WSJ Opinion Archives
HOUSES OF WORSHIP
Aiming That Arrow
Valentine's Day gets religion.
Valentine's Day may appear to be the property of the flower, chocolate and greeting-card industries, but enterprising churches and religious organizations have not completely abandoned this former mainstay of the Roman Catholic Church's calendar of official feasts. Today perhaps more Americans will be joined in holy matrimony than on any other day of the year. Most of the brides, grooms, witnesses and ministers will be fully clothed, though there will be exceptions, as we shall see.
Like Christmas, St. Valentine's Day was grafted onto a pagan holiday, in this case the festival of Lupercalia, which featured a lottery: Young men drew the names of young women who became their sexual consorts for the next year. Pope Gelasius I (elected in 492) had "issues" with this arrangement and decreed that young men--and women--would instead draw the name of a saint after whom to model their lives. The day was named in honor of St. Valentine, though it happens that there were three St. Vs, all thought to have been beheaded. This confusion led the church to drop the date from its official calendar in 1969.
By then the religious aspect of V-Day had been buried beneath an avalanche of candy and supernaturally mawkish poetry. Yet the Spirit would not be stilled. Indeed, it appears that the holiday's religious nature is making a comeback.
In Evansville, Ind., things got started last Friday when Mayor Russell Lloyd Jr. proclaimed National Marriage Week. The local chapter of Community Marriage Builders, a Christian ministry allied with the Marriage Savers movement, sent wedlock-bolstering manuals to 338 area churches--and to the county courthouse, where they will be handed to couples on the road to Splitsville.
That's not all. Judges and clerks proclaimed Feb. 12 as No Divorce Day, meaning no divorces would be granted. "I was amazed nobody challenged it," says Ann Gries, local coordinator for Community Marriage Builders. "I guess everyone is concerned about divorce."
Michael J. McManus, who runs Marriage Savers from Potomac, Md., says community marriage policies--which include prenuptial classes on listening, family finances and how to argue properly--are in effect in 170 cities and are putting a big hurt on divorce lawyers. Modesto, Calif., and seven other participating cities have experienced a 48% decline in divorce, at least according to organization figures. To celebrate Valentine's Day, Mr. McManus and his wife, Harriet, have been spreading the pro-marriage gospel in the Bahamas. "Rough duty in February," he notes, "but somebody has to do it."
The pro-marriage spirit is highly ecumenical. Tonight the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies will hold a marriage recommitment ceremony for 50 couples during halftime. In Florida, the Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Department is offering its own re-up ceremony, while at Runaway Beach in Jamaica, the Hedonism III resort has billed what it calls the world's largest nude wedding. An "on-site wedding coordinator will see to all arrangements, including a marriage license, flowers, music and minister."
Naked clerics may represent the ultimate in contemporary worship, though the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel offers some competition: "Imagine repeating your vows after Elvis in a lush tropical setting, complete with palm trees, swaying hula girls and theatrical lighting and fog." There are also weddings performed by "Merlin in a Camelot wedding package, or by King Tut in an Egyptian wedding ceremony--Vegas style! Austin Powers can even perform your rites in our popular 60's wedding." One imagines the photos will be good for a few chuckles once sobriety is regained.
Love can, unfortunately, be a many-splintered thing, and in Baltimore a party called "Luv Sux" offers celebrants a place to "revel in your independence." The price is hard to beat: "Bring a shredded, torn or mutilated picture of your ex for free admission." In something of the same spirit, Bangkok Post sub-editor Thirasant Mann has predicted the demise of another rocky relationship: President Bush will "say ta-ta to Saddam on Valentine's Day."
But for the most part, Valentine's Day is for lovers, especially those who respond to the minister's "Do you?" with some variation of "Affirmative." God bless, and help, them every one.
Mr. Shiflett is a member of the White House Writers Group.
