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| Valentine's skull can be found in Rome inside the side altar on the left side of the church. While you are at the Basilica of Santa Maria (above), stop by the portico to visit the famous sculpture Bocca della Verità (mouth of truth). |
MAYHEM & MARTYROLOGIES-- When America isn’t being modern and romantically mushy,
February 14 is also known for the bloody anniversary of the St. Valentine’s Day
Massacre, a gangland ambush killing seven in a Chicagoland garage in 1929. The focus of this blog, however is the equally
gruesome roots of the religious martyr for whom the holiday is named. According to History.com on February 14
around the year 278 A.D., Valentine, a priest in Rome during the reign of Emperor
Claudius II, was beheaded for aiding and abetting romance.
The following Valentine
sagas are from History.com, AtlasObscura and the Catholic Encyclopedia.
GUEST BLOG—By History.com--Under the rule of
Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns.
The emperor had to maintain a strong army, but was having a difficult time
getting soldiers to join his military leagues. Claudius believed that Roman men
were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their
wives and families.
To get rid of the problem,
Claudius banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, realizing the
injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for
young lovers in secret.
When Valentine's actions
were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was
arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten
to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out
on February 14, on or about the year 270.
Legend also has it that
while in jail, St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter,
who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine."
For his great service,
Valentine was named a saint after his death.
In truth, the exact origins
and identity of St. Valentine are unclear. According to the Catholic
Encyclopedia, "At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them
martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under the date of 14
February." One was a priest in Rome, the second one was a bishop of
Interamna (now Terni, Italy) and the third St. Valentine was a martyr in the
Roman province of Africa.
Legends vary on how the
martyr's name became connected with romance. The date of his death may have
become mingled with the Feast of Lupercalia, a pagan festival of love. On these
occasions, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn
by the men as chance directed. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius decided to put an end
to the Feast of Lupercalia, and he declared that February 14 be celebrated as
St Valentine's Day.
Gradually, February 14
became a date for exchanging love messages, poems and simple gifts such as
flowers.
A PLETHORA OF VALENTINES
GUEST BLOG—By Atlas Obscura--A skull resides in a glass reliquary in a small
basilica in Rome, surrounded by flowers. Lettering painted across the forehead
identify the owner as none other than of the patron saint of lovers, St.
Valentine.
Knowing just exactly whose
skull it is, though, is complicated. First off, there was more than one
Catholic saint known as Saint Valentine. Then there's the approximately 1500
years between those martyr's deaths and the enthusiastic distribution and
labeling of bodies in the Victorian era.
Finally, and most
troubling, there is the fact that no less than ten places claim to house the
relics, all around the world.
Little is really known of
the real man (or men) behind the myth. What is known (more or less) is that at
least two men by the name of Valentine (Valentinus) were known in Italy and
died in the late 3rd century, and a third Valentine was located in North Africa
around the same time. The two Italians were buried along Via Flaminia.
As a saint, Valentine first
gained real notoriety in 496 when Pope Gelasius I made February 14, originally
part of the Roman festival of Lupercalia, a feast day dedicated to St.
Valentine. The stories of the different men seem to have merged into one over
time, with most of the mythology about Valentine being a patron of lovers,
helping early Christian couples to marry in secret, only dating to the 14th
century and the writings of Geoffrey Chaucer.
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| La Bocca della Verità |
The skull can be found in
the side altar on the left side of the church. While you are at the Basilica of
Santa Maria, stop by the portico to visit with the famous Bocca della Verità
(mouth of truth).
Basilica of Santa Maria in
Cosmedin, Piazza della Bocca della Veritas 18, Rome, 00186, Italy. Free.
Open: 9 am to 5 pm daily.
More on the Bocca della Verita.
La Bocca della Verità
(English: the Mouth of Truth) is an image, carved from Pavonazzo marble, of a
man-like face, located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin
in Rome, Italy. The sculpture is thought to be part of a first-century ancient
Roman fountain, or perhaps a manhole cover, portraying one of several possible
pagan gods, probably Oceanus. Most Romans believe that the 'Bocca' represents
the ancient god of the river Tiber.
The most famous
characteristic of the Mouth, however, is its role as a lie detector. Starting
from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with one's hand in
the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off. The piece was placed in the
portico of the Santa Maria in Cosmedin in the 17th century. This church is also
home to the supposed relics of St. Valentine.
Latter source: Wikipedia.
Short Film on Chicago's St. Valentine's Day Massacre from History.com
http://www.history.com/topics/saint-valentines-day-massacre
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