St. Valentine

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

It seemed timely that we feature St. Valentine today. You may wonder what the connection is to Ireland, It’s a question I asked myself a few years ago.

I was walking along St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin looking for the Unitarian Church when I saw a poster inviting me the view the relics of St. Valentine and I took a double-take. What? Patrick was Ireland’s patron saint, I thought. What was this hoopla about St. Valentine?  In fact, I hadn’t really thought of Valentine as a “proper” saint. So, of course, I went to investigate and satisfy my curiosity.

Whitefriar Street and the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel were not far away. I knew a bit about the Carmelite Order because I had visited the Carmelite church and the ruins of the 13th c. Whitefriars Abbey in Kildare. In my mind, the White order of Crusaders were the original white knights in search of the Holy Grail. It seemed fitting that this order known for compassion, light, and love would house the relics of the guy who most represented Love.

But why? It seems that an Irish priest, renowned for his work with the poor in Dublin and his preaching as well,  visited the Vatican in the 1800s. The Pope gifted him the relics (bones and blood usually but it seems his heart, too ) to bring back to Ireland. It was customary for a relic of a saint to be given to a new Catholic church and so this went to Whitefriars.

In the 1960s it resurfaced and a beautiful shrine was designed to showcase “The heart of hearts”. It all really is lovely. But I avoided checking out the gold box where the heart is said to be encased.

Valentine was martyred in the third century during the days of Christian persecution. He was sainted for helping the young, the old, and those in love. It is said he left a final note to his jailer’s daughter thanking her for her kindness, signed “Your Valentine”.

May your day be filled with compassion and love.