The Holy House of Loreto

On March 25, 1995 Vatican City issued two new series of stamps. One series consists of four stamps and a souvenir sheet that commemorates the Seventh Centenary of the Shrine of the Holy House of Loreto. The Stamps are vertical in format, measuring 34.45 x 41.10 mm., and have a perforation of 11 3/4 x 11 la. They were issued in sheets of 20. Along the sides of the stamps is the inscription Vii CENTENARIO DEL SANTUARIO DELLA SANTA CASA DI LORETO, and at the bottom, C1TTA DEL VATICANO and the value. The Papal Tiara and Crossed Keys are in the lower left corner of the illustration. The designs feature artwork from the Shrine of Loreto: •  600 lire - Angel with Chal-ice: detail from the vault of the Sacristy of St. Mark, painted by Melozzo da Porli (1438-1444); •  700 lire - Angel with the Iamb: detail from the vault of the Sacristy of St. Mark, also painted by Melozzo da Forli; •  1,500 lire - Music-making Angel: detail from the vault of the Sacristy of St. John, painted by Luca Signorelli (1450-1523); •  2,500 lire - Music-making Angel: detail from the vault of the Sacristy of St. John, also painted by Luca Signorelli. The souvenir sheet measures 75 x 110 mm., and includes a 3,000 lire stamp measuring 36 x 36 mm. with a perforation of 13 1/4. It is printed on white chalky paper in gray and blue rotogravure. The sheet depicts the transfer of the Holy House of Loreto, a detail from the Holy House of Loreto, a detail from the marble decoration of the Holy House preserved inside the Shrine. The stamp includes the same inscriptions found on the other four stamps of the series; it features the detail of the Blessed Virgin with the Holy Child. At the bottom of the sheet are two inscriptions in blue: A RICORDO DEL VII CENTENARTO LA 1.1RETANO, TRASIAZIONE DELLA SANTA CASA, and CM DEL VATICAN, 25 MARCH 1995. Helio Courvoisier S.A. of Switzerland printed 450,000 complete sets and 300,000 souvenir sheets. On December 10, 1994, His Holiness Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Holy House in Loreto. There he concluded the process of the "Great Prayer for Italy and with Italy" which began at the tomb of St. Peter in the Vati-can on March 15, 1994. On the same day, the Holy Father opened the celebrations of the Seventh Centenary of the Shrine of Loreto. According to tradition, angels brought the house in which Christ was raised from Palestine to Tersatto in present-day Croatia in 1291. On December 9-10, 1294, the angels brought the house to Loreto in Italy. (The transfer of the Holy House has been depicted on earlier Vatican stamps: #C4, 8, 10, 13.) Thousands of faithful from around the world come to the shrine every year to offer their prayers to the Blessed Virgin and to admire the great artworks produced through the centuries.

(From Vatican Notes Volume 47, Number 6, May 1995, Page 7)