Dublin doesn’t have a reputation as the most romantic city in the world but maybe it should. It has something that Paris, London, Krakow or Prague doesn’t – the relics of Saint Valentine.
The remains of the saint were gifted to Father Spratt of the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836. They rest in this Reliquary, below, and, on Valentine’s Day, are placed before the high altar in the church.
There are special sermons at the masses (11am and 3.15pm) and short ceremonies during which rings of “special sentimental value” are blessed.
(The featured image is by dansapples)
