The mystery of the St Valentine's finger in a city church
BBCHe is the patron saint of love and, this Saturday, millions of people around the world will be recognising him, indirectly, as cards and gifts are exchanged in celebration of St. Valentine's Day
And part of him can be found, it is believed, locked inside a church in Coventry.
A shard of bone, said to be from a finger of St Valentine, an early Christian martyr, killed by the Roman emperor Claudius Gothicus in 270 CE, is held at St John the Baptist in Coventry.
The relic is kept inside a golden reliquary, that itself is locked inside a safe.
But the question remains - how did the finger bone of a Catholic saint who died in Italy and whose bones were held in the catacombs of the Vatican, end up in Coventry?
The hunt for answers hits an early stumbling block as any record that could give a complete explanation is likely to have been lost, either in a fire in the 19th Century or during a flood at the church a century later.
Father Dexter Bracey is the priest in charge at John the Baptist in Fleet Street and the man responsible for taking care of the artefact.
"It's a small metal box, fits very easily in the palm of my hand, so it's not a massive item, tied with ribbon, sealed with a wax seal on the back and it just holds the relic secure," he said.
"So at some point it's been sealed and stamped to say 'this is a true relic'."
It is kept inside a reliquary, a golden ornament that would be paraded and shown to the faithful who would be hoping to be blessed by the saint.
Where Coventry comes in is the mystery - what is known is that, in the 19th Century, St Valentine's bones were moved out of the catacombs at the Vatican where he had been buried and relocated to Ireland.
"We think this portion of his body came here from Dublin. Certainly one of the previous rector's of this church was Irish," Bracey said.
"So we suspect, but we don't know for certain."
When the relics were moved from the Vatican, most were sent to a church in Dublin in 1836, where a shrine to St Valentine is maintained to this day.
About 20 years later, Reverend George Cuffe, who was Irish, was rector of St John the Baptist in Coventry and spent more than 20 years with the church, overseeing a major restoration after a flood - could he be the link?
The BBC contacted Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin, where the majority of the purported relics were sent and they said there was no record of Cuffe having any connection with them - and it is possible the relic was sent directly to the Coventry church.
Despite questions over how it ended up in the West Midlands, the church celebrates with it every Valentine's Day.
"We generally get it out around Valentine's Day. That's a day when there's quite a bit of interest and couples do like to come and receive a blessing with the relic," Bracey said.
"This year, St Valentine's Day falls on a Saturday, so throughout the weekend the relic will be on display.
"People who wish to come and pray before it or receive a blessing, can do so."
Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
