St. Valentine: Mission to Love Well
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about St. Valentine is that no one truly knows who he was. His life is known only to God, and yet, that is enough. Valentine endures as an icon of love. He was a champion of lovers, and a beloved son of the Lord who is love. His witness reminds us that sanctity depends on love lived faithfully.
Valentine’s Mission
This is where St. Valentine’s “mission” intersects beautifully with the mission of the Couple to Couple League. CCL accompanies couples toward a love that is intentional, embodied, and rooted in truth. Through Natural Family Planning, couples commit to charting together, an act that requires shared responsibility and ongoing dialogue. That commitment deepens trust and invites a level of communication that few other habits demand.
Periods of postponing pregnancy, lived with generosity and mutual consent, foster a different kind of romance. They call couples to express love beyond the sexual moment. When they come together again, that reunion carries renewed gratitude and joy. This rhythm reflects what St. John Paul II taught in the Theology of the Body: that marital love is unitive—drawing spouses into deeper communion—while always remaining open to life and God’s design.
“Love is patient, love is kind.”
(1 Corinthians 13:4)
The legends of St. Valentine—marrying couples in secret, encouraging love under persecution, restoring sight, and affirming vows even in suffering—point to a deeper reality: love is meant to be sanctified. When love is ordered toward God, it becomes a source of hope not only for couples, but for the world. This is the same hope CCL fosters through its programs, which equip couples to understand fertility, communicate honestly, and grow together in trust and generosity.
So long as there is love, there is hope. St. Valentine’s enduring presence in the life of the Church reminds us that love, when ordered toward God, never fades into irrelevance. In a culture that often flattens love into sentiment or consumption, CCL continues Valentine’s quiet witness: forming couples who sanctify love through daily choices, faithful self-gift, and a shared journey toward heaven.
St. Valentine, pray for us that we may love well—and love eternally.
Written by Martha Haenni, CCL Content Editor, Marketing Events & Podcast Host.