Terni, "City of Love" - frankly, I would never have believed it. One lives and one learns. The point is that the saint who lends his name to all the card-sending, cupid-e-mailing codology that marks this special day reportedly lies dead and buried in the town of Terni, Umbria, central Italy.
Over the years, I have often had reason to travel north to Umbria, perhaps on the way to Assissi or further north. As you leave the region of Lazio, the road takes you past Terni, maybe 35 kilometres east of the north-south running "Autostrada del Sole", linking Milan to Naples. Little did I know I was driving past the "City of Love".
The point about Terni is that, while it is a pleasant enough place, it is not normally high on the "must-see" list. By the standards of the rich cultural patrimony of Umbria (Perugia, Spoleto, Orvieto, Assissi, etc), it is relatively small fry.
Today, however, is Terni's day.
Early church history suggests that Valentine, the martyr whose memory is honoured today, was in fact the Bishop of Terni, condemned to death in AD 273. Furthermore, he reportedly lies buried in a crystal coffin in the modest little Church of San Valentino in Terni.
The present church, dating from the early 1600s, is no great architectural wonder. Although a church was erected over the martyred saint's tomb in the 4th century, that original church has long since disappeared, giving way to various reconstructions.
As often in the case of early church history, not a lot is known about St Valentine and even the little that is known is open to interpretation. Some scholars suggest that Valentine was not in fact the Bishop of Terni but rather a Rome-based priest, caught up in the persecution carried out by Emperor Claudius II. Other more pragmatic accounts suggest that the priest from Rome and the Bishop from Terni are the same person. Irish readers, too, will know that relics of Saint Valentine are believed to be preserved in the Carmelite Church in Dublin.
What we know for sure is that Saint Valentine bears little or no responsibility for today's worldwide attack of amorous nonsense. It was his (good?) fortune that his feast day coincided with a day traditionally considered to be the first day of spring, a day when the "mating season" officially opened. As for the business of exchanging love tokens and cards etc, all in his name, that came much later, probably in the Middle Ages.
Reports of Valentine's fate hardly prompt thoughts of love and romance. Apprehended by Roman soldiers, he was sent by Emperor Claudius to the prefect of Rome who called on him to renounce his faith. When Valentine refused to do so, he was sentenced to be beaten with clubs and then subsequently beheaded. Allegedly his execution took place on February 14th.
Terni's connection with Saint Valentine has not always been much in evidence. My 1998 edition of the celebrated Michelin Guide to Italy, for example, contains an interesting entry on Terni which, understandably, highlights the splendid Cascata delle Marmore waterfall nearby but says not a word about Saint Valentine or the Basilica di San Valentino.
In recent times, however, Terni has made up for past failings. This year, the town has been host to a month-long, packed programme of religious and cultural events, ranging from concerts by the Romanian State Orchestra to Fiat 500 car rallies but obviously concentrating on religious ceremonies in which couples, new or old, make or remake their vows to one another.
Last Sunday, for example, 200 couples gathered outside the Church of San Valentino to exchange kisses and handshakes in a ceremony in which they promised to marry one another before the year is out. Today, St Valentine's modern-day successor, the Bishop of Terni, Narni and Amelia, Mgr Vincenzo Paglia, will preside over a special Mass in the baslicia attended by local shakers and makers.
All good and proper but I cannot help wondering what the early church martyr would have made of all today's goings-on in his name, not so much in his Terni homeland but in the world far beyond.