The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines on Valentine's Day urged faithfuls to remember the real meaning and symbol of love.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said that while February 14 is a good day to reflect on love and what it really means, Ash Wednesday is "a good occasion to dig more deeply into the meaning of love as much as to correct kindly our wrong notions of love."
"The real symbol of love is not Cupid with shooting arrow but Christ hanging on the cross declaring that action at Calvary that 'There is not greater love than to die for your beloved,'" Villegas said.
"The real day of love is Good Friday when evil attempted to kill Goodness Himself but instead received the vengeancce of forgiveness and mercy. The vengeance of God is mercy. The law is no longer retaliation but compassion," he added.
According to the prelate, "love is best expressed by sacrifice" as he urged faithfuls to observe fasting and abstinence.
"The food we do not eat or the meat we abstain from must be given to those who practically fast everyday due to extreme poverty, enduring inhuman hunger," he continued.
"Fasting and abstinence are not exercises of will power. We eat less so the hungry can have more. We enjoy less so those who suffer may receive some comfort," he added.
He also added that "love is best expressed by prayer and giving."