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  The postcard above references the canonization of St. Clement Maria Hofbauer of Poland and St. Joseph Oriol from Barcelona on May 20, 1909, by Pope Pius X. To date, the Vatican Post Office has not issued stamps to commemorate either of these two saints. The 1909 postmark indicates that it was sent from the Rome train station ('Ferrovia' meaning 'Railway') and went to Lausanne, Switzerland. It is interesting to see something sent from the Vatican before Vatican City became a separate country in 1929 and before the Vatican Post Office came into service. Remembering the contentiousness that existed between the Holy See and Italy (from the time of Italian unification in 1870 to the establishment of the Vatican City State in 1929), it is unusual to see mail originating from the Vatican during this time. If any VPS member has material from this time period and is willing to share it, please contact us. Click the link to access the VPS Contact Form. |
