A Madrid Valentine´s Tale

Valentine’s day is a love day. While many take this opportunity to think on romance, Brother Carlos Burguete from the Church of San Anton—allegedly the last resting place of Saint Valentine himself—reminds us that “love is not a day”. 

San Anton is a catholic establishment which has been around since 1615, completing 411 years of hermandad this year. As Hermano Burguete explained, the church has always been “dedicated to christian charity”.

As a catholic he breaks down his theology into three components: faith, hope, and charity—all of which are for him a mode to get him closer to God, which he defines as the, “absolute love”.

Absolute love is precisely what San Anton has been about since its founding. Their philanthropic journey is breathtaking. In the early eras of the church they founded the Colegio Imaculada Conception, to take in and provide education to abandoned children. Additionally, they would walk around the streets of Madrid giving out one piece of bread and boiled egg to the famished. Now, they still keep the same dedication, or arguably even more. 

The school still exists and they have modernized the food program, which happens in the comedor: a dining hall located in the back of the church. Everyday without fail they feed 350-400 people. Even in the Filomena snow storm during covid, the church remained open to those in need. 

Despite the risks the hermanos have faced through their charity, for Brother Burguete, this is the minimum we can do. He believes, as the privileged in society, to love is to put our egoistic nature aside, and give, not only material things, but ourselves. 

The church counts with 400 brothers like Burguete, they all take turns running the comedor program. Despite most having personal lives and separate jobs, each one of the brothers have to run the comedor during 4 weeks of the year. 

As I walked through the comedor for the first time, I saw neatly set tables covered by a white tablecloth cloth, and next to each silverware there was the fruit of choice, a banana, waiting for the first round of 80 guests to come eat. I was then led into the small kitchen where there were two huge pans with warm food, baskets with hundreds of pieces of bread.

As the tour went further, I was shown two more pantries. Firstly I saw an abundance of food: rice, milk, pasta, canned meatballs, oil, and the list goes on. In the second pantry there were hundreds of stacked coca-cola’s which the brand kindly donates to the church. 

In the same pantry, I saw countless bags of packed lunches— which Brother Burguete explained are necessary to feed all the hundreds of people who line up outside daily. Those lunches included halal options which for him are a must so they ensure everyone in line can eat.

He eventually showed me a room where the brothers who are in charge of the week will organize the proceedings for the food project. In there I was shown prayers they do before the meals, the schedule for the month, and finally multiple red aprons with a blue cross embroidered in the center of it. 

As a non-religious person myself, I’ve never had affinity with any sort of religious symbols; however, as I looked at those crosses in the food-stained aprons the hermanos use, I couldn’t help but feel gratitude. I felt happy the hermanos did what they did, and more than just happiness I felt love. 

“You come here, and it changes your day, suddenly you leave happy. Because when you see the problems of those who come here to eat, it puts your problems into perspective, you say ‘my problems are stupid, this is real problems’. And deep down, you gain more than you give. So much more, and that’s what’s wonderful about the religion”

Initially, I went to the church with the purpose of learning more about Saint Valentines and its relics. I wanted to write something about who he was and how he can show us love. However, the work the hermanos do for the community spoke so much louder than a Saint from the third century. 

Turns out, there was no need to go looking for love through one saint only— if we look closely we can realise that multiple saints walk amongst us everyday.  

Alice Ellis