On combined Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday, religious leaders say you can partake in both

Valentine's Day isn't a cultural holiday, Father Juan Ochoa of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said. The original Saint Valentine, a third-century Roman martyr, was honored in the Catholic Church's liturgical calendar until 1969, Ochoa said, when the church gave the Feb. 14 feast day instead to Sts. Cyril and Methodius, brothers who are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet to transcribe scripture.

St. Cyril died on Feb. 14, 869, hence his claim to that date.

St. Valentine was a Roman priest who married people against their parents' wishes and generally performed secret weddings because the couples loved each other, Ochoa said.

"Valentine's Day is about love and Ash Wednesday is about preparing ourselves to celebrate the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, [so] it's also about love," he said.

Worship services are also held on Ash Wednesday in Anglican, Lutheran, Episcopal and some Protestant churches.

The Rev. Canon Melissa McCarthy of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles said her church's advice is to get your ashes and then go celebrate Valentine's Day with the person you love, whomever that person may be.

As an alternative to giving up an indulgence, McCarthy said one possibility might be to take on a new spiritual practice, such as meditation, doing a centering prayer or attending Bible study.

Ash Wednesday has been a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church — a mandatory day of church attendance — but it's not obligatory in the Episcopal Church.

While many parishioners in the Episcopal Church participate, McCarthy's hope is that people also see it as a way "to take stock of where you are in your life, relationships and relationship with God."