By Suzie Lee

     The two opposite holidays, Valentine’s day and Ash Wednesday ironically overlapped on the same day.

    Ash Wednesday is a seasonal holiday of church signaling the start of Lent in Christianity. Christians think of the meaning of Lent by meditating Christ’s affliction for 40 days by putting ashes on his forehead and making a confession of sin.

     However this year, the Valentine’s Day, a holiday that couples send chocolates and flowers to each other, fell on Ash Wednesday resulting in controversy between the two events.

    During Valentine’s Day, people buy rose bouquets and chocolate-covered strawberries to celebrate their love to each other.

    The problem is on Ash Wednesday, a day for fasting and self denial, those gifts are considered extravagant.

    Priests say the words to parishioners during the ceremony, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

    The last time this concurrence of holidays happened was in 1945, and it is expected to meet again at 2024 and again in 2029.     

      Last year, the Lenton Friday fell on the same day as Saint Patrick’s Day, a similar to situation this year, but some dioceses made decisions to permit Catholics to eat corn beef.

    From this conflict, many people decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day one day earlier among with Mardi Gras, known as Fat Tuesday.

    Although any specific decisions are not arising at the moment for Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday, the people resolved in different ways to respect and celebrate the events.