In his 2016 apostolic exhortation on The Joy of Love (Amoris Laetitia), Pope
Francis referred directly to Saint Valentine’s Day saying, “I think of
Saint Valentine’s Day; in some countries, commercial interests are
quicker to see the potential of this celebration that we are in the
Church” (AL 208). Inspired by the Holy Father’s encouragement of greater use of Saint Valentine’s Day in the Church, the World Meeting of Families 2018 has produced a new resource for couples to use this year as part of ongoing preparations for WMOF2018 in August 2018.
The WMOF2018 office has prepared flyers inviting couples to celebrate the Joy of Love this Saint Valentine’s Day. The flyers include prayers, some words of encouragement from Pope Francis and some ideas on how to mark Saint Valentine’s Day.
A series of special gift tokens that couples can give to each other have also been made available. These include: a technology-free evening; time for prayer together as a couple, go for a walk together; a special dinner at home, loads of hugs; and a journey down memory lane where the couple takes time to remember how they met and have grown together.
The resources are available in each Cathedral across Ireland, in Veritas Shops and in Accord centres nationwide.
They can also be downloaded from worldmeeting2018.ie.