Razzing Saint Valentine in heaven
[a classic Catholic comic strip from Jason Bach]
In Catholic meme culture there’s a genre or theme devoted to Saint Valentine and the premise that he wasn’t a romantic, lovey-dovey Cupid type figure.1 The best and most popular of these is this comic strip by Catholic cartoonist Jason Bach, a perennial favorite reshared by fans every year around February 14th.
Today I’m just here to share, not to comment!2 Happy Valentine’s Day!
This assertion is complicated by the fact that all we know about “Saint Valentine” comes from late and legendary accounts in martyrologies—which, further complicating the question, describe not one, but at least two and possibly three distinct individuals named Valentine, all said to be third-century martyrs, and all honored on February 14!
St. Valentine of Rome is said to have been a Roman priest, while St. Valentine of Terni was reportedly the bishop of Interamna, Italy. It may be that a single historical individual underlies both legendary figures. The third Valentine is said to have been martyred with a number of companions in the Roman province of Africa.
Well, not to comment much. As a point of Catholic interest, I’ll note that “Val” is being heckled by St. Francis of Assisi (L) and a saint that I first thought was St. Francis Xavier, but now think is probably Francis de Sales (R; HT Ed Christopher Chua in the comments below)! While St. Moses the Black does not appear in this comic strip, both his legend—a former slave, murderer, and leader of a notorious gang of violent thieves prior to his conversion, said to be immense, powerful, and fearless—and his monikers (he is also called Moses the Strong) make him a suitably badass associate for Val’s efforts to distance himself from his swoony popular image.
The white vestment with crosses draped over Val’s shoulders is a pallium, bestowed on bishops by the pope as a token of episcopal authority. This suggests that Bach is going with the identification of Valentine as the bishop of Terni rather than a mere priest of Rome.
I can’t resist noting that I love the conceit of depicting prayers to St. Valentine as a sackful of Valentine’s Day cards, like the sacks of Christmas letters delivered to Kris Kringle in A Miracle on 34th Street!
Hi, Steven! I'm a reader from the Philippines! Regarding your identification of the two hecklers of "Val" in the comic strip by Bach on St. Valentine, wasn't the one on the right St. Francis de Sales? St. Francis Xavier is usually depicted, based on paintings that I grew up with, as a young man with a short beard and wearing the "black robes" Jesuits were famous for, while St. Francis de Sales painting depict him as a middle ages man with a long beard, wearing a white sotana and a red shoulder cape.
Hilarious comic! Thank you for sharing that. I hope you and Mrs. Greydanus have a wonderful day.
Also, thanks for the small info about St. Moses the Black. Now I know why they chose to do an episode on him for that mini-series on the saints produced by Martin Scorsese. Have you seen any of those? If so, what did you think? I'm waiting until they premiere the remaining four episodes in April before I see them.