Catholics are being given a reprieve from that most noxious of American holidays: Valentine’s Day.

The seven Trappists and 11 other religious men and women were killed in Algeria in the 1990s.

The decree for their beatification should be published sometime in January, Trappist Father Thomas Georgeon said.

Canonization could take place during the Synod of Bishops, an institution Paul re-established after Vatican II.

"The dismemberment of the body is not allowed" unless the bishop has obtained permission from the saints' congregation.

It is no coincidence that saints often come in pairs.