Jovinus and Faustinus were two noble brothers, martyred together in the early days of the Church, in about 120 A.D, under Emperor Hadrian, after whom the wall separating England from Scotland was named. As the reader may recall, although the Romans subdued the Anglo-Saxons, they could not beat the crazy Scots. Alas, as the anthem sings, those days are past now, and in the past they must remain – even if it does go on to add, but we can still rise now, and be the nation again…that stood against him. Hope abounds.
The site of the martyrdom of the two saints was made a cemetery, as per custom. And another custom that intrigued me was that ‘Saint Faustinus’ day has been adopted as a sort of ‘anti-Valentine’, for all those single people, I suppose whether by choice, or not, who have not found, or not seeking romantic love.
I would modify this custom, and put it not as contrary to Valentine’s, but rather complementary thereto. There are as many paths to heaven as there are people, even if there we should maintain the traditional vocations – marriage, priesthood and consecrated life – there are those not called thereto, for various reasons. Christ, through His Church welcomes one and all, so long as we do His holy will, and follow the persevere in the path given to us, in holiness and joy (which always go together), unto the end.