Valentine’s Day: Americans to spend record $27.5 billion on international holiday of love

Photo by alleksana, courtesy of Pexels

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14: Hearts, expressions of love and sweet confections are flowing around the world today, marking the arrival of Valentine’s Day.

In ancient Rome, the fertility festival Lupercalia was observed February 13-15, although historians cannot document specific historical links between Lupercalia and the modern Valentine’s Day. For that matter, history doesn’t document any romantic association with Valentine’s Day until the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer.

The embers of courtly love began glowing in the High Middle Ages, and by the end of the 18th century, Valentine cards were being produced and exchanged. Through the decades, Valentines evolved from lace-and-ribbon trinkets to paper stationery to a holiday involving more expensive gifts, chocolates and, more recently, jewelry. The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent in the United States each year (not including the inexpensive Valentine cards exchanged among schoolchildren).

Looking for a gift guide? Yahoo has 17 gifts that ‘prove you’re smooth, not scrambling’; the Guardian has ’34 thoughtful ideas they’ll actually want.’ Today.com offers ’20 best Valentine’s gifts in 2025,’ and InStyle has ’23 Valentine’s Day finds [that] will arrive just in time.’

For couples: In early 2014, Pope Francis released an appeal entitled “The Joy of ‘Yes’ Forever.” Intended for engaged couples but suitable for anyone who is married, this is a perfect read for Valentine’s Day! Read it here.

2025 stats: According to the National Retail Federation, 56 percent of Americans plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year; 28 percent of those not celebrating still plan to mark the occasion. Consumers are expected to spend a record $27.5 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, up from last year’s $25.8 billion and slightly above the previous record of $27.4 billion, set in 2020 (per person, that stat is $188.81).

THE ‘REAL’ ST. VALENTINE(S): A HISTORY AND A DOZEN

Through the centuries, Christians have honored nearly a dozen St. Valentines, so any research into the history of the “real” St. Valentine quickly veers toward confusion.

The Encyclopedia Britannica states that St. Valentine is the “name of two legendary martyrs whose lives seem to be historically based. One was a Roman priest and physician who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Christians by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus and was buried on the Via Flaminia. Pope St. Julius I reportedly built a basilica over his grave. The other, bishop of Terni, Italy, was martyred, apparently also in Rome, and his relics were later taken to Terni. It is possible these are different versions of the same original account and refer to only one person.”

American Catholic magazine—one of today’s most popular sources of information for Catholic families—states: “Although the mid-February holiday celebrating love and lovers remains wildly popular, the confusion over its origins led the Catholic Church, in 1969, to drop St. Valentine’s Day from the Roman calendar of official, worldwide Catholic feasts. Those highly sought-after days are reserved for saints with more clear historical record. After all, the saints are real individuals for us to imitate. Some parishes, however, observe the feast of St. Valentine.”

So,  if conversation today heads in the direction of  the history of the “real” St. Valentine, you’re on solid ground to state the simple truth: “Yes, but no one knows for sure.”

FEBRUARY 14 AROUND THE WORLD

Albeit a relatively new addition to Asian culture, Valentine’s Day claims its biggest spenders in this region: Customarily, women in South Korea and Japan give chocolates to all male co-workers, friends and lovers on February 14, with men returning the favor two- or threefold on “White Day,” which occurs on March 14. Residents of Singapore spend, on average, between $100 and $500 on Valentine’s Day gifts, according to a recent report.

French and Welsh households commemorate Christian saints of love, and in Finland and Latin American countries, “love” extends to friends and friendships. Western countries most often acknowledge Valentine’s Day with greeting cards, candies and romantic dinner dates. However, in Islamic countries, many officials have deemed Valentine’s Day as unsuitable for Islamic culture.

VALENTINE RECIPES AND LINKS

Print this Article

Our Lady of Lourdes: Christians pray, thousands of pilgrims travel to site for healing, more

Our Lady of Lourdes

A stained glass window of Our Lady of Lourdes at Llandudno Catholic church. Photo by Lawrence OP, courtesy of Flickr

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11: In spite of advances of modern medicine, today’s Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes reminds us that millions of Christians around the world still look to Lourdes, after more than 160 years: those faithful believe that miraculous healing waters can be found in Lourdes, at a site where a young French girl first reported an apparition of the Virgin Mary on this day in 1858. Bernadette Soubirous was only 14 when she witnessed a series of apparitions, but she has since been canonized by the church—and millions of pilgrims flock to this site every year.

News bite: In December 2022, 60 Minutes investigated the story of Lourdes, including the rigorous medical testing that is a part of the site and has confirmed 70 cases as inexplicable miracles. Read the story here.

AN APPARITION: GUSTS OF WIND AND THE ‘IMMACULATE CONCEPTION’

On February 11, 1858, Bernadette Soubirous had gone to collect firewood with her sister, Toinette, and neighbor, Jeanne Abadie. Taking off her shoes to wade in water near the Grotto of Massabielle, Soubirous reported hearing the sound of two gusts of wind, though nothing around her moved except a wild rose in the grotto. At that time, Soubirous looked into the grotto. The 14-year-old reported seeing, in the grotto, a lady who wore a white dress and a blue sash, with a yellow rose on each foot. The lady asked Soubirous to pray the rosary with her.

Did you know? As Bernadette Soubirous reported the “lady” to have yellow roses on each foot, it remains common practice that pilgrims imitate this with Marian statues. 

Despite punishment from her parents over her reports, Soubirous returned to the grotto and witnessed the apparition again. After multiple encounters, the apparition instructed Bernadette to ask local clergy that a chapel be built at the grotto. When clergy demanded to know the apparition’s name, Bernadette was told: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” What Bernadette did not know is that, just three years earlier, Pope Pius IX had proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. As the impoverished daughter of a family little involved in the church, it was a most surprising event when Bernadette began telling her family and local religious figures that she had seen the “Immaculate Conception”—an official term that experts say she had no way of knowing.

LOURDES: PRAYERS, HEALING AND MIRACLES

Tradition has it that the apparition itself told Bernadette to dig in the ground to locate the spring, and from the very beginning, medical patients who drank this water reported miraculous cures. Today’s site of Our Lady of Lourdes is quite a complex operation: The site consists of more than 20 acres, 22 places of worship, a grotto and a sanctuary. The church officially recognizes 70 miracles, though upward of 7,000 pilgrims have claimed miracles from the Lourdes waters.

Looking for prayers for today? Check out Women for Faith and Family.

From its earliest days of receiving pilgrims, the grotto at Lourdes has housed an on-site Bureau Medical that welcomes any scientist in search of proof of the approved miracles. The Lourdes Medical Bureau continues to leave its records open to any medical doctor who specializes in the area of any cure.

Note: For pilgrims who can’t travel to France, many churches offer a Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes during February.

Print this Article

Triodion: Eastern Orthodox Christians reflect, prepare during Lenten Triodion

The interior of Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Jersey City, New Jersey. Photo by Tzim78, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9: Although the Christian Lent—a preparation period before Easter—is still weeks away, Eastern Orthodox Christians are beginning a pre-Lenten spiritually reflective period today, in a span known as the Lenten Triodion.

With a focus on humility, this initial Sunday recalls the story from Luke 18:10-14, about two men Jesus described as they prayed. One man was proud of his righteousness and showed off as he invoked God’s blessing; the other man was a “tax collector,” sometimes called a “Publican.” According to Luke, this man “stood off at distance and did not think he was good enough even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he pounded his chest and prayed, ‘God have pity on me! I am such a sinner.’” Many believe that Jesus’s point, in this story, was that people should approach prayer with the utter humility of the tax collector.

TRIODION: SUNDAYS LEADING TO GREAT LENT

In this year’s Eastern Orthodox Christian (Gregorian) calendar, Feb. 16 is the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, emphasizing the need for loving forgiveness; Sunday, Feb. 23 is the Sunday of the Last Judgment. Sunday, March 2 follows, with Forgiveness Sunday, and Great Lent commences the following day—on Clean Monday.

Did you know?

The name “Triodion” is the title of the liturgical guidebook followed in the weeks leading up to Great Lent.

Triodion is a liturgical book used by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches. The book contains the propers for the fasting period preceding Pascha (Easter) and for the weeks leading up to the fast. This particular page comes from a 1491 Triodion, published in “old church Slavonic” in Kraków, Poland.

Print this Article

Black History Month highlight: The Heart of the African-American Labor Movement Beat in a Landmark Detroit Church

The Rev. Charles Hill, pastor of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit and a major figure in the American labor movement.

Black History Month 2025 highlights “African Americans and Labor”

FEBRUARY 2025—The founders of this special nationwide emphasis—The Association of for the Study of African American Life and History—is calling on all Americans to learn more this February about the many roles African-Americans played in the movement to protect and empower American workers. One way you can do that right now is by watching two videos—just a total of 10 minutes—about the role of the Rev. Charles Hill, the prophetic leader who brought together the influence of the African-American church and the power of the emerging labor movement for justice and inclusion.

These videos were produced by the Making Tracks nonprofit in Detroit, which is part of the larger MotorCities National Heritage Area.

.

.

.


Care to learn more?

THIS WEEK, JOE GRIMM, founding director of the Michigan State University School of Journalism Bias Busters, has also written a column … (describe and link to what Joe writes) …

A HELPFUL GATEWAY TO FEDERALLY FUNDED RESOURCES—from the National Park Services to the Smithsonian—is hosted collectively by BlackHistoryMonth.gov where you’ll find easy links to a half dozen other major repositories of information, images and other historical records.

PLUS, NEARLY 20 MORE DOCUMENTARY VIDEOS focusing on Detroit’s connections between African Americans and the labor movement are indexed on this page within the Making Tracks website.

Click on the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page. (This is just one of many books we publish about peacemaking and overcoming our legacy of racism.)

Since 2007, our online magazine and our parent, Front Edge Publishing, have produced fair, accurate and balanced news about religious, cultural and racial diversity. We have published a series of books by international peacemaker Daniel L. Buttry that include inspiring stories of men and women (and even some children) who risked standing up for justice on behalf of their neighbors, despite bigotry.

We publish Friendship & Faith, a collection of true stories from women who courageously crossed boundaries of religion, culture and race to discover new friends on the other side of their often difficult journeys.

The Black Knight is the memoir of the oldest living African American graduate of West Point.

The work of Dr. Anni Reinking explores complex issues of multi-racial families as described in her wise and inspiring, Not Just Black and White. That link takes you to our 2019 coverage of the launch of Anni’s book. Then, in 2020, Anni followed up in our magazine by writing a two-part series for us: First, she wrote, “Dr. Anni Reinking reminds us it’s ‘Not Just Black and White’.” Then, she added a sidebar headlined: “Dr. Anni Reinking on ‘What can I do now?’” That story includes a list of practical ideas for readers.

Perhaps our most ambitious series of all is co-produced with the Michigan State University School of Journalism Bias Busters. That series includes a number of books about racial diversity, including one on African Americans and one on the Black Church.

 

 

 

.
.
.

Print this Article

Over the next month, Prayag Kumbh Mela will be the world’s largest peaceful congregation of people.

This  is just one version of countless AI-generated illustrations spreading worldwide on social media, in January 2025, celebrating this Indian tradition. It depicts an idealized image of the colorful tents pilgrims are pitching near the water—and the shoulder-to-shoulder nature of this sacred gathering.

Prayag Kumbh Mela: Just how big is it?

JANUARY 13 to FEBRUARY 26—This once-every-144-years pilgrimage festival—often called “Prayag Kumbh Mela” to distinguish its special location in Prayagraj among other “smaller” Kumbh Melas in other places—already has become the “world’s largest religious gathering.”

Even more grandly, experts now have officially declared it: “the world’s largest peaceful gathering of people.”

The attendance—estimated at already having drawn more than 100 million people—is expected to total visits by more than 450 million by the time the festival wraps up in the last week of February.

To put that in perspective—it’s more than 10 times the crowds claimed to have attended the largest Muslim pilgrimages in history!

The largest Christian gathering on record is the 1995 appearance by Pope John Paul II at a World Youth Day in the Philippines that drew more than 5 million people.

The only sporting events that rank on these global “largest event” lists are several parades honoring beloved sports teams’ victories that, in some cities, drew crowds lining parade routes numbering in the 5 million range.

In music, a 1994 Rod Stewart concert in Rio de Janero drew more than 4 million—but even enormous concerts have rarely broken the 1 million mark.

Journalists struggle to describe the significance

The Guardian has one of the most often-cited reports about this sacred festival,

The Times of India also has a helpful overview, which reports in part:

Kumbh Mela is not just a festival; it’s a phenomenon where mythology, spirituality, and humanity collide in a spectacular show of faith. … The main attraction of the Kumbh Mela is the holy dip. … Devotees believe this act washes away sins and grants liberation from the cycle of life and death. … It transcends religion. It’s a reminder of India’s timeless heritage.

Another challenge for journalists is explaining why this particular Kumbh Mela festival is more than a once-in-a-lifetime event. In fact, it’s a “first-in-generations” event. The answer is so complex that that it is rarely detailed in news reports. The calculation is based on judgments about celestial alignments—including the position of Jupiter and the moon and the sun—as determined by Hindu scholars and their readings of scripture. Apparently, the history of tracking these cycles goes back many centuries, but gaps do exist in that record. So, accurately explaining why this event is the most important Kumbh Mela “in centuries” is difficult for journalists. The fact is: Hundreds of millions of Hindus believe it is this rare—once in 144 years—and are demonstrating that belief by showing up in Prayagraj.

The Indian Express staff took a stab at explaining the cycles for its readers, however, this report also is full of qualifying phrases and rests mainly on this more general assumption: “The answers, as in many questions about Hinduism, lie in a mixture of myths, history, and the enduring faith of an ancient people, trusting as much in the munificence of invisible deities as in tangible life-givers like rivers.”

And the challenge of explaining the festival’s significance is even more complex than that! Journalists reporting for many newspapers, magazines and broadcast outlets also are struggling to accurately describe the political climate in which this historic celebration of India’s Hindu heritage occurs. This is an era when the Hindu minority holding power across India has been sparking global controversy for oppression of religious minorities.

Journalists even find it hard to “see”

The astonishing numbers of people crowding around this confluence of sacred rivers in northern India are almost impossible for journalists to photograph, despite the widespread use of camera-drones. That’s because these crowds are so vast and cover so much ground that people begin to look indistinguishable as aerial photographs are taken.

This is another public-domain, drone-photographed image that is circulating widely on social media—but it captures only a small part of the enormous masses of pilgrims.

Care to learn more?

Our publishing house offers a very helpful 100 Questions and Answers about Indian Americans, which was researched, written and designed by the award-winning Michigan State University School of Journalism Bias Busters project. You can learn more about that book (it’s No. 1 in the series) and all the other Bias Busters titles in this Amazon page.

Print this Article

How will you help to build Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s beloved community in 2025?

“Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve.
You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.
You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace.
A soul generated by love.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


MONDAY, JANUARY 20—Serve in your community this week and learn more about civil rights, as the nation collectively remembers the prophetic life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. An American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the third Monday in January annually brings the celebration of a pivotal figure in American history who, during his lifetime, worked ceaselessly for the civil rights movement and nonviolent activism.

However, this year, millions of Americans are struggling with conflicting anxieties and dreams as the King holiday coincides with the inauguration of Donald Trump for his second term as president.

In The Washington Post, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Colbert I. King, writes this week:

America changes hands on Monday. Uncertainty abounds. Many among us have pits in our stomachs over what lies ahead. One question looms large: In the days ahead, will the U.S. government, which so often has come down on the right side, still stand up for justice?

Want a musical setting for our reflections?

This anxiety also has produced many creative and inspiring responses. NPR broadcast an inspiring commentary by musician Lara Downes, who said:

As a musician considering the long arc of history, I realize that now it’s my turn to show up, to be ready and willing to pursue the dream that Dr. King fought for, along with so many of that generation, including my own parents. I don’t know exactly what that will mean—maybe facing my own fears, maybe more.

If you do click the link to this NRP commentary, don’t miss the end of the commentary, because Downes has compiled 26 songs, via NPR, of “Music for Martin’s Dream.” That’s a terrific soundtrack to honor and reflect on Dr. King’s legacy.

MLK Day: A History

Martin Luther King, Jr. became a Baptist pastor and helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, serving as its first president. In 1963, King helped to organize the March on Washington and, there, delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech.

King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for combating racial inequality through nonviolence.

When a bill was introduced for a federal holiday in honor of Dr. King, some representatives argued that an additional paid holiday would be too expensive and that Dr. King, having never held public office, was ineligible. Supporters of the bill began rallying the public, and when Stevie Wonder released “Happy Birthday” in 1980 to raise awareness of the campaign, 6 million signatures were collected. President Ronald Reagan signed the bill that established a federal holiday on November 2, 1983. The holiday was first observed in 1986, and today, Americans are urged to honor the “King Day of Service” by spending the day doing something Dr. King viewed as unparalleled: serving others.

Care to Learn More?

The official nationally sponsored gateway for Dr. King is hosted by The National Park Service.

There’s also a wonderful, visual celebration of Dr. King hosed by The Smithsonian.

And, this week, learn more about national efforts to honestly report on the tragic legacy of racism in America. Also in January 2025, we published a story headlined: After more than a century, the U.S. officially corrects the record of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Click on the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page. (This is just one of many books we publish about peacemaking and overcoming our legacy of racism.)

Since our founding in 2007, our online magazine and our parent, Front Edge Publishing, has reported fair, accurate and balanced news about religious, cultural and racial diversity. We have published a series of books by international peacemaker Daniel L. Buttry that include inspiring stories of men and women (and even some children) who risked standing up for justice on behalf of their neighbors, despite bigotry.

We publish Friendship & Faith, a collection of true stories from women who courageously crossed boundaries of religion, culture and race to discover new friends on the other side of their often difficult journeys.

The Black Knight is the memoir of the oldest living African American graduate of West Point.

The work of Dr. Anni Reinking explores complex issues of multi-racial families as described in her wise and inspiring, Not Just Black and White. That link takes you to our 2019 coverage of the launch of Anni’s book. Then, in 2020, Anni followed up in our magazine by writing a two-part series for us: First, she wrote, Dr. Anni Reinking reminds us it’s ‘Not Just Black and White’. Then, she added a sidebar headlined: Dr. Anni Reinking on ‘What can I do now?’ That story includes a list of practical ideas for readers.

Perhaps our most ambitious series of all is co-produced with the Michigan State University School of Journalism Bias Busters. That series includes a number of books about racial diversity, including one on African Americans and one on the Black Church.

 

 

 

Print this Article

Timkat: Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrate baptism of Jesus with ancient festival

Timkat Timket Ethiopia

Timkat celebrations in Ethiopia. Photo by Tianjin24, courtesy of Flickr

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19: Hues of richness and depth, velvet fabrics and golden embroideries complement the landscape in Ethiopia today, during one of the grandest festivals of the year: Timkat, the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian ceremony commemorating the baptism of Jesus.

As the countryside’s rolling hills are blooming with yellow spring flowers, pilgrims and priests dress in their finest clothing and form a procession that weaves through the rock-hewn churches and age-old passageways of Ethiopia. Central to the processions are models of the Ark of the Covenant (called tabots), carried by priests with caution and pride. To Ethiopian Christians, the tabot signifies the manifestation of Jesus as the Savior, when he came to the Jordan River to be baptized.

NEWS 2025: Though last year’s Timkat events were subdued due to conflict in the Ethiopian city of Gondar, city administration has announced that Gondar has ‘returned to its peaceful state,’ and welcomes visitors and tourists for the Ethiopian Epiphany. (Read more here.)

Timkat events begin on Timkat eve, when the tabots are ceremoniously wrapped in cloth and carried by priests in a procession. In the earliest morning hours, while the sky is still dark, crowds gather near bodies of water to witness a blessing of the waters—a reenactment of the baptism of Christ. Crowds are sprinkled with water, and baptismal vows are renewed. When all rituals are complete, pilgrims return home for feasts and continued celebrations.

Did you know? Ethiopia is home to more UNESCO sites than any other country in Africa. In December 2019, UNESCO inscribed Timkat on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

 

Interested to learn more?

Read a message from UNESCO on Timkat, here.

GM Today recommends Timkat as one element of “A Year of Wild Human Experiences.” Check out the article, here.

Read more information about the “Ethiopian Epiphany” from UNESCO, here.

Print this Article