On this day in 1969, Paul VI slapped Roman and Eastern Catholics in the face with his motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis. With all of the wisdom and foresight of a bureaucrat, Paul VI explained why the “suppression of reference to a certain number of saints who are not universally known” is required as part of the Second Vatican Council’s cleanup and restoration of Holy Mother Church.
Some unfortunate victims, such as St. Valentine, are not, it turns out, universally significant, despite their place in the collective Catholic memory and even in the wider culture (although stripped of religious significance).
The great irony of this tone-deaf declaration is that St. Valentine, in fact, possesses such universal significance that in spite of the Council’s diktat, celebration of his former feast day persists in America and in many European countries, both among Christians and non-Christians. And this is the great disservice that was done to Sts. Cyril and Methodius, whose feast day was moved from July 5 to February 14. Thus, they are practically forgotten amid the celebrations of St. Valentine.
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