Imagine a world with no Valentine's Day. Now, try to find the words to express the love that you have for others-your girlfriend, your best buddy, your major advisor, that girl you hooked up with last Friday. Can you find the words? No, no you cannot, because without Hallmark cards, conversation hearts and the ever simple Hershey's kisses, we would have neither the vocabulary nor the means to convey those deep stirring feelings we have for our loved ones. In this hypothetical situation, we would be utterly helpless. Honestly, the idea of just telling people, in our own words no less, that we loved them, is a bit off the deep end, don't you think? We need those cute X-Men and Barbie postcards to convey our secret (or not-so-secret) admirations. And how else could we attract the love of others except with candy? In fact, St. Valentine himself was an example to all lovers, and this day reminds us of that. Without dear St. Valentine's Day, we wouldn't even have sufficient opportunities to express our love-other holidays and occasions, like the celebration of the birth of Christ, couldn't match up. And don't even suggest showing our love on a day that isn't a holiday-that's just flat out absurd.

However, even though Valentine's Day is of paramount importance today, there was once a time when Valentine's Day did not exist. How the savages of this era were ever capable of having successful relationships is simply mind boggling. Somehow they were able to court each other without the invaluable aid of our benevolent candy and card companies. I suspect that outside substances may have been involved. After all, it was the heads of these great organizations who came up with the humanitarian idea of having a day where we buy their candy and cards to show our love to each other. Imagine if we hadn't these people to whom we could be grateful. Just the thought of a time without Valentine's Day makes me depressed.

Of course, there is also the religious aspect to this holiday that should comfort any who may not have a significant other for whom they can spend exorbitant amounts of money on delicious Hershey's chocolate. According to Church legend, in 269, a young priest was martyred under the rule of Emperor Claudius for performing Christian marriages. Approximately 1,700 years later, St. Valentine's legacy lives on. In fact, it is possible to see the marked piety and care for other humans in the face of persecution exemplified by this patron of engaged couples, happy marriages, lovers, young people and bee keepers (to name a few) today on this very campus. As the snow begins to refreeze this time of year, it is truly inspiring to see that in a secular world, one saint's memory is honored with such love and utter faithfulness to his mission.

Candygrams, carnations, chocolates, condoms and the "Vagina Monologues" are only several of the ways (besides the obvious extra time spent in prayer) we celebrate this solemn day. We know St. Valentine affects all manner of people on this day of days, the 14th of February. Be it receiving dating advice from a former ABC employee or sexiling your roommate, it's important that everyone take the opportunity to love as St. Valentine has taught.

Oh yes, St. Valentine's tender care for his own jailer's daughter is taken to heart by a great many young people in this country and around the world. Legend would also have us believe that he was able to heal her blindness while waiting for his execution, thus establishing a connection with her. Each time a student signs a card or note with "your Valentine," he is trying to emulate the bravery and selflessness shown in this Saint's willingness to love, despite his own impending doom. Ever since 496, when Pope Gelasius dedicated a date to this priest who had so much to teach us about love, Hallmark and Palmer Chocolates have been helping confused lovers to express their deepest feelings for each other. I believe that it was Valentine himself who passed the first conversation heart through his iron bars to his love (it read "Ur Hott"). And now we do the same, only so much more. He would be proud.

Despite the incredible importance of Valentine's Day in our lives, there are still some dissenters who believe it was created just as a scam so that the candy and card companies could make more money. Preposterous! They are among the few corporations whom we should respect today. Their sacred, selfless work does indeed hark back to the mission of St. Valentine, and moreover, they work to correlate it with our times: eflowers.com and "E-MAIL" hearts are among the most relevant. It's not like these companies exist to try to profit off of other individuals-the suggestion itself is simply offensive. Please, as the Valentine's season draws to an end, remember for next year, and support Valentine's Day no matter what the crazy whistleblowers tell you.

Barbieri can be reached at jbarbieri09@amherst.edu

Paz can be reached at apaz08@amherst.edu