[St. Valentine, the patron saint of love, was executed in Rome and buried there in the 3rd century. Much later an Irish priest was granted permission to exhume his remains, and now his skeleton lies under a church in Dublin.
In 1835 an Irish Carmelite priest, Fr. John Spratt, used his Irish charm to convince then Pope Gregory XVI to dig up St. Valentine’s remains and take them home as a gift to his fellow Irishmen and women....
In 1950 a statue and shrine was built to honor St. Valentine and placed in the church. As soon as people in Ireland realized that the saint of lovers was buried right under their noses they came flocking to the church to give up their amorous prayers to the saint.
Despite companies around the world cashing in on the romantic holiday, the Carmelite priests said they are staying well clear of the commercialization the holiday enforces and they plan to keep sales of Valentine memorabilia to a minimum.
"We do want to keep it on a level that it's not just 'Valentine's Day.' That would diminish the significance of the saint," said David Weakliam, another Carmelite priest.] emphasis added
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