Occasionally I have made comments, perhaps less than flattering, about Big Ben and the Boys in that other country across the Tiber but today I am seriously impressed by the power of Pope Post. On Saturday last at around 2:30 pm Laurent put several parcels into the hands of a very pleasant gentleman at the Vatican Post Office - several bound for Canada and several for the United States. Imagine my surprise when I received a message from my friend Rick sent at 2:30 pm yesterday (Thursday.) saying that his two parcels had just arrived in Ottawa. That means five days - one of which was a Sunday - from post office to front door. Now that is a miracle!And talk about serendipity, I'm posting (pun intended!)this on the Feast day of San Marcello, a 4th century Pope. Emperor Maxentius had him condemned to work as a slave at the Catabulum or central office of the imperial postal system. Tradition says he died there in 309 AD. The church of San Marcello al Corso - we dropped in there on Sunday - stands in that spot on the Corso today. I believe he is the patron saint of postmen or at least his name, and that of the Savoir are often invoked by people standing in interminable line ups at the Italian Post Office.
16 gennaio - San Marcello Papa
