There are not too many saints left in Dublin, but Saint Valentine is a permanent and legal resident. He arrived in 1836 as a present from Pope Gregory XVI and is there to this day. On February 14, the saint is moved from his usual spot on a side altar to the front of the altar in the Carmelite Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin. This is Saint Valentine’s feast day, and those who are to be wed take part in a blessing of the rings ceremony in the church on this day.

Saint Valentine died in the third century. The belief that a bone or some organic material from a revered figure has power or can act as a conduit to power is confusing to those who insist on the facts and only the facts. To believers, the message of love across time and space is the simplest fact of all. It presents no problem and for them a strictly logical reading of events represents a failure of the imagination.

Saint Valentine is said to have restored the sight of a little girl and to have sent her a crocus flower before he was martyred. So the crocus is said to be his flower. Around this time of year in Ireland this shy little beauty pushes its head above the snow and brings joy to those cold early days of spring. It signals a new start in nature’s rounds and a time of hope. We can all use that.

If you can, visit Whitefriar Street on Valentine’s Day and enjoy the atmosphere and then, for more fortification, proceed across the road for a pint of Guinness in the Swan Bar. Tell them Sweeney sent you.

An Irish Trinity Knot is a welcome Valentine's Day gift.