Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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Credit
Saint Valentine blessing an epileptic. Coloured etching. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.
Saint Valentine was bishop of Terni in the third century. The man "falling" at the saint's feet is an epileptic: epilepsy has been known as the "falling sickness", "fallende Sucht", "Fallsucht" etc. Saint Valentine's patronage of epileptics is probably due to the assonance between his name and the Germanic word "fall". Top left, the monogram IHS (for the name of Jesus), with the cross above and the Sacred Heart pierced by three nails below, all surrounded by the sun: the rays of the sun (divine Grace) fall on the epileptic man through the intercession of Saint Valentine
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