Remember, the most popular Valentine legend says that after third-century Roman Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage, Fr. Valentine continued to marry couples in secret. He recognized that marriage is a sacrament instituted by God, meaning the State didn’t have the authority to ban it at all. Despite his courage, Valentine was ultimately discovered and beheaded. 

So how do we honor his day, honor true love, honor our spouses and significant others, while also paying due homage to the beginning of Lent?

Marriage is the common vocation, of course. I believe is the main argument for why we are so quiet about marriage when we discuss vocations. The majority of people will get married, so there’s no need to talk about it.

But I believe this has consequences for our Church. I think we need to talk about marriage as a vocation much more often than we do. We celebrate with couples on their wedding day, but beyond that, how many of us can say we really take time to think about our married friends and pray for and support their marriage? As a Church, in practice, we don’t treat marriage like it is a vocation that should be taken as seriously as the priesthood or religious life.

Ask any married couple you know how they are doing and I will tell you: they’re struggling.

Imagine saying your vows to each other while holding the greatest representation of Christ’s love in your hands:

“I take you to be my husband. I promise to be faithful to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love you and to honor you all the days of my life.”

This resonated with my husband and he immediately said he wanted us to do it.

If you’re looking for a creative nudge, check out the list below. I’ve included themes as well as gift ideas plus Catholic-inspired presents that fit within the themes.

This list goes through the first 10 years of marriage. Send me an email if you’re looking for your eleventh anniversary or beyond and I might just add it!

Happy two-year anniversary, Covenant Co.!

I honestly can’t believe it’s already been a year since Covenant Co. launched.

My husband and I actually don’t fight very often. We do watch a certain reality show that involves couples who fight a lot (it features couples from different countries who have a certain number of days to be a fiancé) and often find ourselves saying, Wow, I’m so glad we don’t talk to each other like that. My husband usually sums it up by saying, “We don’t fight dirty.”

Learn to love yourself first and notice God's graces in the little things around you in your daily life. If you're constantly looking to your partner to “make you happy” or “save you,” you'll become distracted from everything God is blessing you with.