Gruesome relics for a Happy Valentine's Day

Today's feast of St. Valentine (or just Valentine's Day), reminds me of several years ago when we actually traveled to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland and saw the relics of St. Valentine himself. The Shrine of St. Valentine has an altar and a box which contains the relics of the Saint. We did not get to look inside, or get to take a piece home. All the same it was pretty interesting.

We all know that this feast is in a convenient time in the calendar to counter the old roman pagan holiday of Lupercalia, a wild holiday for lovers (weren't they all). Careful inspection of a calendar will show that many of our holidays (from holy day) are church feasts that were often placed in the correct locations to substitute for pagan celebrations. I think the church calls this acculturation.

Lovers have been declaring their love on or around this date for centuries, let us not not stop now. Happy Valentine's Day.