Remains of the Day

One of Dublin’s oldest residents lost his head over love in 269 AD. Today St Valentine rests peacefully in Whitefriar St Church. Elaine Larkin reports

DEEP IN THE heart of south inner city Dublin lies one of Ireland’s best kept secrets: the remains of the infamous St Valentine.

A gift from Pope Gregory XVI to local Liberties Carmelite priest, Rev John Spratt, St Valentine’s remains arrived in Dublin in 1836.

The presence of the remains at Whitefriar St Church originally caused a seven day wonder, but gradually devotion diminished and the relics were stored away to collect dust.

However following renovations forty years ago, St Valentine stands proud once again with his own specially designed altar and shrine. His relics lie in a sealed steel casket, on full view underneath the altar.

Valentine, an Italian priest, was beheaded on February 14th 269 AD. He was imprisoned for secretly marrying young couples. At that time young men were forbidden to marry by Roman Emperor Claudius II, who believed that single men made better soldiers.

However, it was for refusing to renounce his faith that he faced execution, after he had prayed for and healed the blind daughter of a judge.1998 was the 1500th anniversary of the naming of February 14th as St Valentine’s Day by Pope Gelasius - merely a Christianisation of the Roman festival Lupercalia.

On this day, in early spring, birds started mating. Young girls made decorated love messages and placed them in a large urn for the young men to take out. The following year each one would court the maid whose name he had picked. On St Valentine’s Day the saint’s relics are brought out to the front of the high altar.

Nowadays, there is a high attendance at services on this day. According to Father Fitzpatrick, O Carm, "people of all ages, from teenagers, right up to ninety-year-olds, come to the shrine.

It is great to see people having faith". Special Devotions are held at 11 am and 3.15 pm masses, where engagement rings are blessed. Fr Fitzpatrick says that "we are proud to have his shrine here, especially when it raises peoples awareness of love".

As long as the commercial aspect of St Valentine’s Day exists, people may not realise that they may have more chance finding a partner through St Valentine in Whitefriar Street rather than with the help of Hallmark cards.