Saint Valentine has been softened, sentimentalized, and misunderstood.

He was not a mascot for romance — he was a bishop and a martyr who lived and died for Christ.

Before the flowers and chocolates, there was sacrifice. Before the celebration, there was witness.

This Valentine’s Day, let’s remember the saint behind the season — and allow his courage to teach us what real love looks like.

A mantra isn’t a slogan or a productivity hack. It’s a short phrase—often a prayer—that becomes a posture of the heart. Something you return to when the days feel ordinary, overwhelming, or uncertain.

For 2025, the words that anchored me were Dei Voluntas—Latin for God’s delight or God’s will. At the beginning of the year, I sensed an invitation not to strive, not to force outcomes, but to notice. To see the world, my life, and the people around me as places where God’s delight could be revealed.

As the year comes to a close, there’s a natural invitation to pause—to look back with honesty and gratitude, and to look ahead with intention. Not in a rushed, goal-driven way, but with a reflective heart that asks: Where did God meet me this year? And how do I want to walk with Him in the year to come?

The New Year often arrives carrying a lot of weight.

Resolutions. Goals. Quiet expectations that somehow, this year, we’ll finally get it right.

But what if the New Year didn’t begin with pressure? What if it began with companionship?

Today I want to share a simple Catholic tradition—one that has slowly become part of my own life and spiritual rhythm: choosing a saint to walk with you through the year.