St. Valentine's Day is the day for lovers. The day and its preoccupation with lovers was originally celebrated by the Romans. St. Valentine himself was famous as the “bishop of the mating birds,” because on February 14th, his day, birds were believed to choose their mates. The flowers associated with St. Valentine's Day were, in Roman times, the yellow crocus and the tricolor viola that both bloom in the early spring in our gardens today. But there are also other saints associated with February.
February 1st is the day of St. Bridgit who was a first-century Celtic princess who is the patron saint of all young and growing things. She devoted her life to all who are weak and suffering, and her flowers are both spring bloomers: the anemone and the yellow dandelion. She founded the first religious order for women in the British Isles.
February 3rd is the day that celebrates St. Blaise who was the patron of all who experienced throat problems. His congregation included many who suffered from working in the woolen mills carding cloth, so he invented a method of combing the cloth with teasels. His flower was the thistle, and that plant was used to make a medicine for sore throats.
This is Moya Andrews, and today we February saints.
