
The saint for February 14
Saint Valentine of Rome
Martyr
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Local only, optional |
Roman Calendar |
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died at Rome c. 270 St. Valentine of Rome and St. Valentine of Terni share a feast day, a common approximate date of martyrdom, common patronages and even a common location of burial. Unsurprisingly, most scholars consider them to be but a single saint, despite some competing local cults. The City of Terni considers him to be their first Bishop, although it is not certain that Valentine was a bishop at all. Also at Terni, the evolution of the charming nature of his feast is given as follows: The saint had the custom of gifting young visitors with flowers he had grown in his own garden. A young couple so gifted fell deeply in love, and the resultant marriage was so felicitous that the saint was prevailed upon to continue the custom, and even to dedicate a day to the general blessing of the matrimonial state. Other sources attribute the romantic nature of the feast either to the early spring matings of birds in the area, or to the custom common in the Churc of appropriating pagan feasts, in this case feasts of the roman fertility goddess Februaria Juno. In any case, the noble saint was also a physician, and was imprisoned in Rome for treating christian prisoners awaiting their martyrdom. It is said that he won the conversion of his own jailer by curing the jailer's daughter of blindness. He was martyred by beating and beheading, and buried on the Flaminian way by fellow christians. His relics currently reside at Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, in the keeping of the Carmelite Friars (O. Carm)
Prayer to St Valentine
O glorious advocate and protector, St Valentine, look with pity upon our wants, hear our requests, attend to our prayers, relieve by your intercession the miseries under which we labour, and obtain for us the divine blessing, that we may be found worthy to join you in praising the Almighty for all eternity: through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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patron of: Marriage, Romantic Involvement, Betrothal, beekeepers, against fainting, greeting card manufacturers |
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Index of Catholic Saints
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