14/02/2024
𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐒𝐭. 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 - In a long standing tradition, lovers worldwide travel to Dublin on St. Valentines Day to seek blessings directly from St. Valentine. It is believed that the mortal remains of the saint are in a church in Dublin, Ireland!
When St. Valentine was martyred and buried in Rome, basilicas, churches, and monasteries were built from time to time over the site of his grave. Over the centuries the buildings on the site were the subject of restorations, renovations, and reconstruction. During one of these renovations in the early 1800s, Valentine’s remains were discovered along with a small vessel tinged with his blood and other artefacts.
The story of how the saint’s remains came to Ireland starts in 1835 with an Irish Carmelite named John Spratt who was visiting Rome. He was well known in Ireland for his skills as a preacher and his work among the poor and destitute in Dublin’s Liberties area. He was also responsible for building the new Church to Our Lady of Mount Carmel at Whitefriar Street, Dublin. While he was in Rome, he was asked to preach at the famous Church of the Gesù, the mother church of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). As a preacher, his fame had gone before him, no doubt brought by some Jesuits who had been in Dublin. The elite of Rome flocked to hear him, and he received many tokens of esteem from the doyens of the Church. One such token came from Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846) and were the remains of Saint Valentine.
On November 10, 1836, the Reliquary containing the remains arrived in Dublin and were brought in solemn procession to Whitefriar Street Church where Archbishop Murray of Dublin received them. When Fr Spratt died, interest in the relics died away too and they went into storage. Significant renovations of the church building took place during the 1950/60s, and St Valentine’s relics were returned to prominence, given a specially constructed altar and shrine, once again, enabling public veneration. The statue was carved by Irene Broe depicting the saint in the red vestments of a martyr and holding a crocus in his hand.
Today, the shrine is visited throughout the year by couples who pray to St Valentine to ask him to watch over them in their lives together. The feast day of the saint on February 14 is a very popular one, and many about to be married couples come to the Eucharistic celebrations on that day for a Blessing of Rings. The Reliquary is removed from beneath the side-altar and is placed before the high altar in the Church and there venerated at the Masses. At the 11.00 am and 3.15 pm, there are special sermons and a short ceremony for the Blessing of Rings.
Read the full story here.
https://carmelites.ie/the-shrine-of-saint-valentine/
