Feast Day of
Saint Adalbert

Saint Adalbert: Millennium of Death Scott 1040 (1997) April 23 marks the feast day of Saint Adalbert. The Vatican City stamp shown above was issued to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of his death on April 23, 997. The stamps was jointly issued with Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. He is the patron saint of the Czech Republic, Poland, the Diocese of Prussia, and the patron of the Diocese of Esztergom (Hungary). Born around the year 956, Vojtëch (Adalbert in German) was known as the Archbishop of Prague and a missionary. Adalbert’s missionary efforts are reminiscent in scope to those by St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany (c. 672-754) and Ss. Cyril (826/7-869) and Methodius (815-885), the Apostles of the Southern Slavs. He twice served as Archbishop of Prague (he faced civil strife during his first term in 982, after which he returned to Rome). His second term after 983 was marked by more turmoil which included the death of two of his brothers. Adalbert condemned the trade in slaves, polygamy, and idolatry which met with local opposition. He departed Prague and conducted missionary activities in Hungary, Poland, and Pomerania (Prussia) near the seacoast city of Danzig, now Gdańsk. The Holy Roman Emperor Otto III invited Adalbert to visit Prussia. The Baltic peoples were among the last to be Christianized and followed native, pantheistic religion. Adalbert ordered a grove of trees, sacred to the natives, to be cut down, at a site near Köignsberg (later Soviet Kalingrad). Although he was protected by soldiers because he urged the population to abandon paganism, local priests encouraged resistance, and Adalbert was martyred on 23 April, 997. King Boleslaus I (of Poland) ransomed Adalbert’s body by its weight in gold. After his death, he was proclaimed St. Adalbert of Prague. There were squabbles after his death about the possession of his relics. Today both St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague and the Cathedral at Gniezno (Poland) claim portions of his relics. Left: St Adalbert, Polish Millennium Issue (Scott 434, 1966) Right: St Adalbert, Millennium of the Diocese of Prague (Scott 544, 1973) Saint Adalbert was portrayed two previous times on Vatican City stamps. He appeared on the 25 L issue of the 1966 Polish Millennium issue, and on the 220 L stamp from the Millennium of the Diocese of Prague release from 1973. REFERENCES: Thomas Crimando, Vatican Notes, Volume 46, Number 1, page 1, 2003, St Adalbert of Prague UFN, April 23, 1997, the 1000th Anniversary of the Death of St. Adalbert of Prague Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search