- Latest Accord data for couples preparing for Sacramental Marriage to be released at photocall
Ahead of the Feast of Saint Valentine on 14 February you, or a representative, are invited to a photocall for the blessing of engaged couples at the shrine of the holy relics of Saint Valentine in Dublin city. Details:
Time and date 12.15pm on Monday 13 February 2023, eve of Saint Valentine’s Day.
Venue Shrine containing the holy relics of Saint Valentine in the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Whitefriar Street, Archdiocese of Dublin.
In attendance Bishop Denis Nulty, Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin and President of Accord Catholic Marriage Care Service CLG, will bless engaged couples:
- Orla Gavin and Patrick Corcoran; and,
- Ilona Catharine Dorrepaal and Patrick Michael Lennon.
Notes to Editors
- Father Seán MacGiollarnáth OCarm is the Parish Priest of the Carmelite Priory.
- Photographs of the blessing of engaged couples will be available to media for publication. Please contact John McElroy on +353 (0) 87 241 6985 and [email protected].
- Accord’s marriage preparation and marriage counselling services are offered north and south from 54 offices on the island of Ireland. Accord is managed from three corporate centres based in Maynooth, Dublin and Belfast.
- The holy relics of Saint Valentine are contained in a reliquary within a dedicated shrine in the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Carmelite Church on Whitefriar Street), in the Archdiocese of Dublin. The church was founded by Father John Spratt (1796-1871) in 1825 on the site of the 13th century Carmelite Monastery. The church was opened in 1826 and he became its first Prior. Father Pratt was renowned in Europe for his skill as a preacher. Following a visit to Rome in 1835, Pope Gregory XVI was so impressed that he gave Father Pratt a reliquary containing relics of Saint Valentine, which he brought back to Whitefriar Street in Dublin. Saint Valentine was a priest who married couples in defiance of the Roman emperor Claudius II’s edict and he was martyred on 14 February around 269 or 270 AD.
For media contact: Catholic Communications Office Maynooth: Martin Long +353 (0) 86 172 7678 and Lisa Sheridan +353 (0) 86 084 3175.
