The Legend of Saint Valentine

In honor of the upcoming holiday, we wanted to give a shoutout to Saint Valentine himself. Did you know that some of Saint Valentine’s relics now live at the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland? Kind of cool, huh?

Saint Valentine is actually the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name “Valentine” was very popular and it derives from the word valens, meaning worthy, strong and powerful. Of the Saint Valentine of legend, the one we celebrate on February 14^th, not much is known about him apart from the fact that he was buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on Feb. 14^th. The day that has become known as Valentine’s Day derived from the idea of a feast that occurred on Feb. 14^th but it is widely unknown as to which Saint Valentine exactly the feast was for. This feast was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I.

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle in 1493. In it is a portrait of Valentine alongside some text that states he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II. It says he was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. He was shortly thereafter sentenced to death. Many of the current legends surrounding Valentine’s Day were invented in the 14^th century in England, when the feast of Feb. 14^th first became associated with romantic love. There is still nothing that indicates a connection of the Saint to the idea of love.

If you want to see the famous relics of Saint Valentine (or shall we say, one of the Saint Valentines) you can take a trip to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin. Ireland is a beautiful place, and for Valentine’s Day, it couldn’t be a more romantic destination. Check out our Ireland vacations online at Sceptre Tours!