Despite St. Valentine’s Day being popular with Dubliners, many don’t realise his body (well, some of it) is here in our city, says Rob Buchanan.
Father John Spratt (1797-1871) was a humanitarian in the Irish Carmelite Order who did a tremendous amount of charity work, especially helping the homeless and hungry in the Liberties. He was also involved in the construction of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Whitefriar Street.
In 1835 he was honoured for his work by Pope Gregory XVI with a gift of part of the relics of St Valentine. The bones and blood of the Roman martyr were brought home from Rome and installed in Whitefriar Street Church with grand ceremony, accompanied by huge crowds. When Father Spratt died, the reliquary was effectively packed off into storage and forgotten. Decades later during renovations they were rediscovered. An appropriate shrine was built to display them to the public, including a life-sized statue by artist Irene Broe depicting Valentine in the red vestments of a martyr, a crocus in his hand.
Shrine of St. Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland
Valentine’s Day love at the Shrine
Before lockdown lovesick Dubliners could write their romantic prayers and worries in a book at the shrine. Legend has it they would catch the ear of the romantic saint and he would grant his expert help with their love life. Sadly it appears Whitefriar Street church will not be open to the public on Valentine’s Day this year, when normally special masses and ring blessings are held.
Many legends surround Valentine and his martyrdom. One claims Emperor Claudius blamed love for the reason young soldiers were deserting his army. So, like a good pantomime villain, he cancelled all marriages in Rome. Associating with members a new cult called Christianity was now punishable by death.
Valentine was an early Christian who continued to perform marriages. So, he was beheaded on the Flaminian Way in Rome circa 269 or 270 CE. Another story has him curing the blind daughter of his jailer with his medical knowledge (as well as miracles). Before his execution, he gave her a letter signed “from your Valentine” with a crocus flower.
An English Victorian era Valentine card located in the Museum of London
This appears to be an attempt to explain the romantic traditions associated with the day. However, customs centuries older shed a more historic light. Like most Catholic holy days (holidays) the 14th of February was originally a Pagan feast. This one was in honour of the goddess Juno in the form of Juno Februata.
Other traditions
Girls wrote their names on slips of paper and placed them in a votive jar. Boys would then pull them out like some virgin lottery, and they would be a couple for the festivities starting the next day, the Feast of Lupercalia. This was a fertility festival involving lovers exchanging sweet cakes. The little flying babies traditionally depicted on Valentine’s cards are of course depictions of the gods Cupid and Eros.
It seems like everything is recycled in history, even gods, but human love at its core never changes! This year, more than ever, life seems so fragile. Whether it’s family, friends or partners, don’t forget to tell those you love how you feel.
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Author bio:
Rob Buchanan was one of the winners of 2015 Poetry Ireland Introductions series. His debut poetry collection “The Cost of Living” sold out. He has won national and international awards for his writing, and has been published in a number of poetry journals and magazines including The Stinging Fly, Flare, Live Encounters and Pendemic. Rob was a winner of the Young Ireland Award in Glasgow for his lectures on the Dangers of Democracy. And he has written popular current affairs columns for, and been published, in DublinLive, The Outmost, Eile, An Phoblacht , Rukkle, Headspace and The Journal. He lives in Dublin and is working on his first novel and a Dublin history anthology.
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