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 Italia '98 Stamp Exposition Art Day Christ with the Cross and Two Apostles Scott 1087d (1998) On June 11, the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Barnabas, the Apostle. Although not depicted specifically on any stamps issued to date by Vatican City, he is connected to the Church dating back to the time of Jesus Christ. The stamp above, for the Italia ‘98 Stamp Exposition Art Day, pictures a section of a columned sarcophagus found in the Vatican Necropolis showing Christ with the Cross and two Apostles. Barnabas was a “Cypriot Jew”, born Joseph in the early first century. He was an early disciple of Christ and, although not one of the original Twelve Apostles, he is first referred to as an “apostle”, or missionary, of the early Christian Church in the Book of Acts. Early Church tradition also cites Barnabas as one of the "first of the seventy disciples of our Lord”. Barnabas is identified as the cousin of Mark the Evangelist (in Colossians 4), and his name means “Son of Consolation” or “Son of Encouragement”.  "The Conversion of Saint Paul" by Michelangelo Scott 1578 (2014) Barnabas played a crucial role in the future of Christian evangelization when he vouched for the sincerity of Saul (Saint Paul) following his conversion when other early Christians were initially skeptical of the former tax collector and Christian persecutor. He then traveled with Paul, with their first missionary journey being to the church in Antioch around the year 45 AD. Barnabas also participated in one of the first councils of the Church, the Council of Jerusalem, in 50 AD.  Russian Orthodox Icon of Saint Barnabas the Apostle Russian Orthodox Church of the Resurrection, Zürich From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license The story and missionary travels of Barnabas appear extensively in the Acts of the Apostles, and Paul mentions him in some of his Epistles. One of his missionary journeys took him to his native Cyprus and, with Paul, they founded the Church of Cyprus. It is recorded that, in 61 AD, Barnabas was martyred in his native town of Salamis on Cyprus. Barnabas is remembered in both Eucharistic Prayer 1 and the Litany of Saints in the listings of the early apostles of the Church.  Saint Marcian (Martianus) 1900th Anniversary of Martyrdom Scott 1785 (2022) Barnabas is tied to the subject on one other Vatican City stamp. In 2022, the Vatican issued a stamp to commemorate the 1900th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Martianus (or Marcian), the first bishop of Tortona in northwestern Italy. He was converted by Saint Barnabas in the first century and was eventually martyred in 122 AD during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. REFERENCES: |
