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On June 22, 1938, the Vatican City issued its first set of airmail stamps. The series was composed of eight values with four designs common to two denominations. The 25 cent. and 1 lira stamps depict the statue of St. Peter, by Defabris, in the Piazza of St. Peter's. The statue is one of a pair (the other is a statue of St. Paul by Tadolini) erected during the Pontificate of Pope Pius IX. The original statues of these saints that stood at the base of the stairs rising to the basilica were moved to the entrance of the sacristy. Pius IX then replaced the statues of the two Apostles with those mentioned above. A symbolic design was used for the motif of the 50 cent. and 2 lire stamps, a dove with an olive branch superimposed on a scene of St. Peter's Square. The design represents the usage of the airways for peaceful purposes. The ascent of Elias into heaven is portrayed on the 75c and 6L values. IV Kings, II, 7-11: ". . . but they two stood by the river Jordan. And Elias took his mantle and folded it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and the both passed over on the dry ground. And when they had gone over, Elias said to Eliseus: Ask what thou wilt have me do before I be taken from thee . . . And as they went walking and talking together, behold "A FIERY CHARIOT AND FIERY HORSES PARTED THEM BOTH ASUNDER: AND ELIAS UP BY A WHIRLWIND INTO HEAVEN." A third use of the airways is depicted on the 80c and 10L values: the transportation of the Loreto Holy House. According to tradition, Our Lady's home in Nazareth was enclosed in a beautiful church named the Basilica of the Annunciation by the Empress Helena. The name of the church was very appropriate as it was in this house that the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced she was to be the Mother of the Christ Child. The basilica enshrining the Holy House of Nazareth stood for about nine hundred years. When the basilica had fallen into the hands of the Saracens it was allowed to fall into disrepair. Towards the end of the thirteenth century the Home of Mary disappeared. A short while later the people of Tersatto, a vilage in Dalmatia, were astonished to find a house in an open field where there had been nothing the day before. The parish priest said it was the Holy House of Nazareth and it had been revealed to him in a dream. The envoys of the Governor forwarded a report that the House had disappeared from Nazareth and that It was of the same size and shape as that found in the field. The report further stated that the materials used for the construction were unobtainable anywhere in Dalmatia. Three years later the House vanished again. It was located this time on the other side of the Adriatic Sea a few miles south of Ancona. It shifted slightly two or three times and then found a final resting place in a laurel grove that gave its name to the place. Since that time the Home of Mary has been known as the Holy House of Loreto. |
| (National Philatelic Museum, Volume VII, Number 1, 1954, pages 61-107) We are greatful to the Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum for allowing the Vatican Philatelic Society to use the copyrighted text on our website. |
