Christmas 1968:
The Infant of Prague

Christmas 1968: The Infant of Prague Scott 464-466 (1968) As we approach the end of the calendar year, we hope that you have enjoyed the topics presented in the Daily E-Mails, highlighting the many and diverse subjects presented on Vatican City stamps. The dates of liturgical feast days, the release of Vatican City issues and other events of importance are used to select the topics sent each day. As we enter the Christmas season, the Daily Emails and Page 2 articles will also start to focus on stamp issues, covers and other items related to the Christmas season. The annual Christmas stamp set issued by Vatican City in 1968 featured three stamps picturing the statue known as the 'Infant of Prague'. The statue is a 16th-century wax-coated wooden statue of the Child Jesus holding the orb and cross (or 'globus cruciger') in His left hand while providing a sign of blessing with His right. It is of Spanish origin and is now located in the Discalced Carmelite Church of Our Lady Victorious in Malá Strana, Prague, Czech Republic. The statue is clothed in luxurious fabrics by the Carmelite Nuns, and is venerated on Christmas day and the first Sunday of May. Here is a photograph of the statue: Statue of the Infant of Prague Photo from Fotobanka ČTK, René Fluger From Wikimedia Commons Used under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license Legend claims that the statue once belonged to Saint Teresa of Ávila and was subsequently donated to the Carmelite friars by Princess Polyxena of Lobkowicz in 1628. Pope Leo XII signed the first pontifical decree of canonical coronation for the statue in 1824. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Czech Republic and crowned the image for the second time. During the Pope's visit in 2009, one of his main goals was to help restore faith in the Czech Republic. The ex-communist country is the most secular country in Eastern Europe, with less than one-third of its population being Catholic. During an open-air mass at the pilgrimage site to Saint Wenceslas at Stara Boleslav (just outside of Prague), the pontiff's message was that the fall of the communist regime, which had tried to erase religion, was proof that God could not be excluded from public life. REFERENCES: Anonymous, Vatican Notes, Volume 17, Number 4, page 6, 1968, The Vatican Christmas Issue of 1968 Wikipedia.com, Infant Jesus of Prague DW Global Media Forum, Religion vs Materialism Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search