ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY
Saints celebrated on the 7th of January
SAINT VALENTINE, BISHOP OF RHAETIA
Saint Valentine (Valentinus) is the patron saint of the diocese of Passau. The Proprium of Passau relates his life story as follows:
Saint Valentine came from the seashore and arrived at Batava, today's Passau. Here he wanted to proclaim the gospel to the inhabitants, who were ignorant of the true worship of God, and therefore went to Rome to obtain the necessary authority from the Pope for this undertaking. Upon his return, he invested much time and effort to gain those lost souls for Christ, as the Pope expected him to. Valentine himself thirsted for their salvation, incessantly preaching the Divine word to them.
After some considerable time, however, Valentine realised that all the seed he had sown fell on rocky ground. Thus he travelled again to Rome with the request to be sent to another place that had fertile soil. The Pope received him graciously, consecrated him bishop, and encouraged him to try once more. Valentine should first make further vigorous attempts at evangelising the locals in the Passau area, the Holy Father advised, and only if these would prove fruitless too, he should then look for another sphere of activity. But upon his arrival in Passau the inhabitants immediately drove him out of the city, incited even more against him by the faithless Arians.
Therefore the zealous bishop moved on and preached the good news of salvation in Christ everywhere he could. Finally he went to the mountains, where he died. His body was buried in the Castrum Majense in Tyrol, where he had last prayed and worked, but it was later returned to Passau with all honours, "as it were to his own seat," which he had left as an exile. The basic features of this legend have been found to be genuine by historical researchers.
Bishop Valentine flourished in the second half of the 5th century. His violent expulsion from Passau is confirmed by the old Proprium of Chur Diocese. There is no doubt that he was particularly active in Graubünden. From here he went to what is now Tyrol and won many souls for the Lord there (multum ibi Domino populum lucratus est). There were certainly still many pagans among this population at that time. Eventually Valentine settled in Mays (Castrum Majense) near Meran, where he built the oratory dedicated to Saint Stephen. There he gathered students with whom shared the spiritual life. His blessed death occurred soon after the year 470. Soon after, his tomb became a popular site of pilgrimage, as attested by Venantius Fortunatus. Bishop Corbinian chose this place as his burial place out of reverence for the holy man.
The translation of Valentine's mortal remains to Trent took place around A.D. 739. In 769, Duke Thassilo II arranged for his relics to be brought to Passau, whereupon many miraculous healings occurred there. The holy bones were raised in 1120, 1266 and 1634. When the cathedral went up in flames on April 22, 1662, they were reduced to ashes - only his head, which was kept elsewhere, is still intact. His veneration is particularly widespread in the dioceses of Passau, (Munich-) Freising, Feldkirch, Chur and Brixen. Many churches in these dioceses are dedicated to him.
The fact that he is not listed among the bishops of Passau should not come as a surprise; although he preached for a while in Passau and found his resting place there, the historical sources call him vaguely "Bishop of Rhaetia." [Rhaetia is understood to comprise of present Switzerland, Bavaria, and Tyrol.]
He is particularly invoked against gout and any depleting illnesses. The Cathedral church prayer in his honour runs like this:
"We ask you, O Lord, to have mercy on us, your servants, through the glorious merits of your blessed confessor and bishop Valentine, who rests in this church, so that through his pious intercession we may be mercifully protected against all adversities."
In the Proprium of Chur Valentine is listed on January 17. If it is true, as Hack* (Bilderkreis, p. 297) asserts, that our saint is depicted by some artists as a bishop, holding a palm tree and a sword, then this must be a mixup with Saint Valentine. Only the episcopal regalia is due to him. In the Saint Boniface Church in Munich our Valentine is pictured preaching to the pagans.
He is also commemorated on August 4 and October 31.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 5, Augsburg, 1882, pp. 635-37)
*A source used by the authors
Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations
PRAYER:
Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Valentine may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org
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