St Valentine’s Day is celebrated all over the world as the day of love, where couples celebrate their love for each other. Did you know the relics of Saint Valentine, one of the world’s most revered Saints, reside in a beautiful church located in the heart of Dublin City.
People come from near and far to this oasis of peace to pray to Saint Valentine in the hope that he will grant them love and happiness.
Couples come from all over Ireland and the world to visit the bones of Saint Valentine and pray for love and happiness in marriage.
On February the 14th, there is a beautiful ceremony that blesses the rings of couples who, are about to be married.
For anyone visiting Dublin this is a must see location and is a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit the resting place of one of the worlds more revered and famous Saints.
Where can you visit the bones of Saint Valentine?
You can visit the resting place of Saint Valentine just a short walk from the bustling Temple Bar area of Dublin. The Beautiful Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is located on 56 Aungier Street, Dublin.
This is a beautiful and peaceful quite church, that allows for a moment of silent reflection in a vibrant and busy inner city Dublin.
You will be surrounded by magnificent stained glass windows and a sense of belonging. There is also a beautiful coffee shop and a well-stocked gift shop.
Who was St Valentine?
Saint Valentine of Rome was born in Italy and famously preached and ministered to the Christians of Rome at a time when Christians were brutally persecuted within the Roman Empire.
He performed baptisms as well as marriage ceremonies within the city walls of Rome, a practice that would ultimately cost him his life.
Legend says that he tried to convert the life long Pagan Emperor Claudius II to the faith of Christianity. Claudius was outraged and condemned Valentine to a brutal death.
On February 14th 260AD Saint Valentine was brought to the Flaminian Gate in Rome now Piazza del Puopolo.
Here he was beaten and beheaded. It is said that before his death St Valentine sent one last letter and signed it “from your Valentine”
What is Saint Valentine Parton Saint of?
St Valentine is the patron Saint of love, a happy marriage, bee keepers, plague and epilepsy.
He is recognizable by many attributes associated with him. He is associated with love especially that of courtly love in the Middle Ages. Saint Valentine is also associated with curing blindness.
Where was he buried?
After his brutal death he is said to have been hastily buried in a Christian cemetery in the North of Rome on the Via Flaminia where he lost hits life and gained the title of martyr and saint.
He was later exhumed from his original resting place and reburied, with relics making their way throughout the medieval world.
This was a time where the worship and collection of holy objects and relics were common practice especially for a revered Saint like Saint Valentine.
There are countless churches and shrines scattered throughout the world that are associated with Saint Valentine.
His flower-adorned skull is on display in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Casmedin, Rome, Where people gather in huge numbers to pray to the Saint.
How did the bones of Saint Valentine arrive in Ireland?
In the 1800’s there was a revival in the restoration and reconstruction of many religious sites throughout the world. These new works uncovered the remains of Saint Valentine from his resting place in Rome.
The remains of Saint Valentine were brought to Ireland by a Carmelite John Spratt. Upon visiting Rome he entranced those who heard him preach. Spratt was also famous for his dedication to the poor of Dublin; he good works were well known especially in the Liberties area of Inner City Dublin.
He is also the man responsible for building the beautiful Church our Lady of Mount Carmel that we see today. His preaching was so profound in Rome that he was given a miraculous gift by Pope Gregory XVI.
This was a casket marked with his papal seal that contained the remains of Saint Valentine and other relics that are associated with the famous Christian Martyr.
It is not claimed that these are the entire skeletal remains of Saint Valentine, but rather several of the Saints bone; these remains are safely in the casket given to Spratt by the Pope in 1835.
They lie in this place of rest lovingly cared for in this quite and peaceful church in the centre of Ireland’s Capital City.