Be My Valentine Traditional Geocache

This cache is a magnetic micro container. Tweezers are required to extract log.Don't forget to bring your own pen ;)

Stealth is required.Be aware of the many people passing this busy spot, & replace the cache exactly as you found it, ensuring it is not visible.

Please note a valid log here requires a signature on the cache log.

You do not need to enter the church to find the cache; however, it is well worth a visit. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery.

The Legend of Saint Valentine - Patron of Love, Young People & Happy Marriages

Valentine of Rome was a priest, who is said to have died about 269 during the persecution of Claudius the Goth / the Cruel. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno - the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. Claudius had also ordered all Romans to worship the state religion's idols, and he had made it a crime punishable by death to associate with Christians. But Valentine was dedicated to the ideals of Christ, and not even the threat of death could keep him from practicing his beliefs. Valentine aided the Christians and secretly married couples, and for this Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, in either 269 or 270 AD.

There is also another legend surrounding Valentine's martyrdom. It is about a young girl Julia, the daughter of a jailer, who had been blind from birth. Valentine was praying for a cure for Julia, and also teaching her, at the time of his death. On the eve of his death, Valentine wrote to Julia - knowing his execution was imminent. He jotted a farewell note and handed it to the jailer to give to his blind daughter. He urged her to stay close to God, and he signed it "From Your Valentine". His sentence was carried out the next day, February 14.

Valentine was buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome, near the cemetery of St Hippolytus. It is said that Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship. The crocus, which flowers about this time of the year, is also known as St. Valentine's flower. In 496 Pope Gelasius I named February 14 as Saint Valentine's Day. On each Valentine's Day, messages of affection, love and devotion are still exchanged around the world.

In 1835 an Irish Carmelite by the name of John Spratt was visiting Rome. He was well known in Ireland for his skills as a preacher and also for his work among the poor and destitute. He was also responsible for the building of the new church to Our Lady of Mount Carmel at Whitefriar Street. While he was in Rome he was asked to preach. Apparently his fame as a preacher had gone before him, no doubt brought by some Jesuits who had been in Dublin. The elite of Rome flocked to hear him and he received many tokens of esteem from the doyens of the Church. One such token came from Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846) and were some of the remains of Saint Valentine along with a small vessel tinged with his blood and some other artefacts. The official Vatican letter which accompanied the Reliquary, states that the relics are genuinely those of St. Valentine. The relics were placed in the casket and sealed with the seal of The Holy See. They were placed in the church but over time were forgotten. During a major renovation in the church in the 1950s/60s the remains were re-discovered and a shrine was constructed to house them. The statue in the shrine was carved by Irene Broe and depicts the saint in the red vestments of a martyr and holding a crocus in his hand.

Today, the Shrine is visited throughout the year by couples who come to pray to Valentine and to ask him to watch over them in their lives together. The feast day of the saint on February 14 is a very popular one and many couples come to the Eucharistic celebrations that day which also includes a Blessing of Rings for those about to be married.