St. Valentine in Sambir, Ukraine... of all places

The Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God in the town of Sambir, Ukraine, is the place where one can see the saintly remains, a scull fragment and a few bones, of St. Valentine (yes, the St. Valentine). According to Father Bohdan Dobryanskiy, interviewed by Ukrainian newspaper “Fakty i kommentarii” in 2005, the remains were officially transferred to Sambir from Rome (presumably, from the Catacomb of Priscilla) in 1759. The relics in a glass casket have been attracting quite a few believers and tourists since 1992, when they were put on display again.

Oddly enough, there are several other places in Europe that claim possession of the martyr’s remains. Among them are Dublin (Ireland), Burmingham and Glasgow (UK), Roquemaure (France), Livorno (Italy), and Vienna (Austria). Well, maybe, they just have the other bones.

The church also has a miracle-working icon of the Holy Mother of God, which attracts numerous believers and visitors.

Sources:

Мощи святого Валентина покоятся в храме города Самбора Львовской области in the newspaper Факты и комментарии (in Russian)

Saint Valentine in Livorno's Santa Caterina Church on LivornoNow

Some variants of the geographic names used on this page (read more about these lists here):

• Sambir, Sambor