Saint Valentine

For the holiday, see Valentine's Day. For the Canadian city, see Saint-Valentin, Quebec. For the song, see Saint Valentine (song). For other uses of "San Valentino", see San Valentino (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Valentinus (Gnostic) or Valentine of Passau.

Saint

Valentine
Saint Valentine healing epilepsy, illustrated by Dr. František Ehrmann, circa 1899.
Bishop of Terni and Martyr
Bornc. 226
Terni, Italia, Roman Empire
Diedc. 269 (aged 42–43)
Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
Venerated inCatholic Church
Anglican Communion
Eastern Orthodoxy
Lutheranism
FeastFebruary 14 (Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran Churches)
July 6 and July 30 (Eastern Orthodox)
AttributesBirds; roses; bishop with a crippled person or a child with epilepsy at his feet; bishop with a rooster nearby; bishop refusing to adore an idol; bishop being beheaded; priest bearing a sword; priest holding a sun; priest giving sight to a blind girl[1]
PatronageAffianced couples, against fainting, beekeepers, happy marriages, love, plague, epilepsy,[1] Lesvos (for Catholics)

Saint Valentine (Italian: San Valentino; Latin: Valentinus) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his feast day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is also a patron saint of Terni, epilepsy and beekeepers.[2][3] Saint Valentine was a clergyman – either a priest or a bishop – in the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians.[4] He was martyred and his body buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine (Saint Valentine's Day) since at least the eighth century.[5]

Relics of him were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome, which "remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV".[6] His skull, crowned with flowers, is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics of him are in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church, Dublin, Ireland, a popular place of pilgrimage, especially on Saint Valentine's Day, for those seeking love.[7][8] At least two different Saint Valentines are mentioned in the early martyrologies.[9] For Saint Valentine of Rome, along with Saint Valentine of Terni, "abstracts of the acts of the two saints were in nearly every church and monastery of Europe", according to Professor Jack B. Oruch of the University of Kansas.[10]

Saint Valentine is commemorated in the Anglican Communion[11] and the Lutheran Churches on February 14.[12] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, he is recognised on July 6; in addition, the Eastern Orthodox Church observes the feast of Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on July 30.[13][14] In 1969, the Catholic Church removed his name from the General Roman Calendar, leaving his liturgical celebration to local calendars, though use of the pre-1970 liturgical calendar is also authorised under the conditions indicated in the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of 2007.[15] The Catholic Church continues to recognise him as a saint, listing him as such in the February 14 entry in the Roman Martyrology,[16] and authorising liturgical veneration of him on February 14 in any place where that day is not devoted to some other obligatory celebration, in accordance with the rule that on such a day the Mass may be that of any saint listed in the Martyrology for that day.[17]

  1. ^ a b Jones, Terry. "Valentine of Terni". Patron Saints Tom. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
  2. ^ Palacios-Sánchez, Leonardo; Díaz-Galindo, Luisa María; Botero-Meneses, Juan Sebastián (2017). "Saint Valentine: Patron of sex and epilepsy". Repertorio de Medicina y Cirugía. 26 (4): 253–255. doi:10.1016/j.reper.2017.08.004.
  3. ^ "St. Valentine: Patron Saint of Beekeepers". Heifer International.
  4. ^ Cooper, J. C. (2013). Dictionary of Christianity. Routledge. p. 278. ISBN 9781134265534..
  5. ^ Pearse, Roger (February 21, 2020). "Did Pope Gelasius create St Valentine's Day as a replacement for the Lupercalia?". Roger Pearse. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  6. ^ Webb, Matilda (2001). The churches and catacombs of early Christian Rome: a comprehensive guide. Sussex Academic Press. p. 254. ISBN 9781902210575. It remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede (Itinerary 3) during the pontificate of Nicholas IV (1288–92).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hecker2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Meera, Lester (2011). Sacred Travels. Adams Media. p. When Father John Spratt, an Irish Carmelite returned to his parish in Dublin from preaching in a Jesuit church in Gesu, Italy, he brought the sacred relics of Saint Valentine, given to him by Pope Gregory XVI. ISBN 9781440525469.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Thurston was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Chapman, Alison (2013). Patrons and Patron Saints in Early Modern English Literature. Routledge. p. 122. ISBN 9781135132316.
  11. ^ "Holy Days". Church of England (Anglican Communion). 2012. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2012. February 14 Valentine, Martyr at Rome, c. 269
  12. ^ Pfatteicher, Philip H. (2008). New Book of Festivals and Commemorations: A Proposed Common Calendar of Saints. Fortress Press. p. 86. ISBN 9780800621285. Retrieved October 27, 2012. IO
  13. ^ "St. Valentine". pravmir.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013.
  14. ^ "Coptic Orthodox Church – From Where Valentine's Day Comes From". Archived from the original on May 25, 2010.
  15. ^ Calendarium Romanum Libreria Editrice Vaticana (1969), p. 117
  16. ^ Roman Martyrology, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001, p. 141
  17. ^ General Instruction of the Roman Missal, p. 355