How did St. Valentine’s heart and blood end up in Ireland?

Over 1,500 years later his heart and blood found their way to a church in the middle of Dublin.

Special Masses will be celebrated in Whitefriar Church of the Irish Carmelites on the feast of the patron saint of couples, beekeepers and people with epilepsy on Tuesday.

The historic church is a place of pilgrimage for couples throughout the year due to the presence of St. Valentine.

But how did the relics of a third century saint from Terni in central Italy end up in Ireland?

According to ‘The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Whitefriar Street Church): A History & Guide’ a Dublin priest was gifted a small vessel tinged with St. Valentine’s blood and some other artefacts by Pope Gregory XVI after he visited Rome in the 1800s.

“In 1835 an Irish Carmelite by the name of John Spratt was visiting Rome. Apparently his fame as a preacher 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 St. Valentine.

“On November 10, 1836, the Reliquary containing the remains arrived in Dublin and were brought in solemn procession to Whitefriar Street Church where they were received by Archbishop Murray of Dublin,” the story goes.

Following Fr. Spratt’s death the relics were stored away but during a renovation in the 1950s a shrine was developed to honour the saint.

Today a statue of the saint stands over the reliquary that is emblazoned with the words, 'This shrine contains the sacred body of the martyr, together with a small vessel tinged with his blood'.

“The statue was carved by Irene Broe and depicts the saint in the red vestments of a martyr and holding a crocus in his hand. Hand-painted replicas of this statue are available in our Church Shop.

"Today, the Shrine is visited throughout the year by couples who come to pray to Valentine and to ask him to watch over them in their lives together. The feast-day of the saint, February 14, is a very popular one,” the church relates.

One of the most famous latter day accounts of St. Valentine’s martyrdom is given in the 15th century ‘Nuremburg Chronicle’.

It states: “Valentine (Valentinus), a Roman priest, after giving evidence of exceptional learning and writing, was imprisoned by the Emperor Claudius; and being asked his opinion concerning the pagan gods, said: Jupiter, Mercury, and the other gods were miserable human beings.

"Afterwards he enlightened the daughter of Asterius. He brought her and forty-nine persons of her household to the Christian faith. Finally, at the command of the emperor, he was severely beaten with clubs, and was beheaded on the 14th day of the month of February.”

With respect to his association with couples, it adds: “The association of lovers’ festivals with Valentine seems to arise from the fact that the feast of the saint falls in early spring—a purely accidental matter.”

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