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 Pauline Year: Saint Paul Preaching Mini-Sheet, Scott 1393M (2008) In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI declared the period from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009, as a jubilee year dedicated to Saint Paul, coinciding with the two-thousandth anniversary of his birth. To commemorate the event, on September 17, 2008, Vatican City issued three stamps, each of which was released as part of four-stamp mini-sheets (one of which is shown above). The stamps depict significant events in the life of Saint Paul. Perhaps other than Saint Peter, Saint Paul is the most significant figure in the history and formation of the Church. A Roman citizen born in Tarsus (in present-day Turkey), Saul would convert to Christianity and become Paul, the most influential evangelist for the early Christian Church in the first century. The accomplishments of Saint Paul are too vast to cover in a Daily Email, but the three stamps for the Pauline Year issue help to provide a brief look at his life.  Scott 1392 (2008) Saint Paul never met Jesus during Christ’s human time on earth, but he encountered Him through his conversion along the Road to Damascus. As recorded in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 9:3-4), Paul was knocked from his horse and blinded, as “a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”Following his recovery, he began his ministry in Damascus.  Scott 1393 (2008) Paul’s vast writings, in the form of his Letters, make up fourteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, and the Acts of the Apostles, written by Saint Luke, helped document Paul's works (Luke would travel with Paul to Rome and record first-hand accounts of his activity). Around the year 57 AD, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and, being a Roman, was eventually taken to Rome for trial around the year 60 AD.  Scott 1394 (2008) Following his arrival in Rome, Paul was reportedly held under house arrest, but he would continue his evangelical mission. After the Great Fire of Rome in July of 64 AD, the Roman emperor Nero placed the blame on the Christians, killing many of them. Among those was Paul, who was martyred by beheading outside the walls of Rome (as was the custom at that time). The great papal basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls stands as a monument to his martyrdom and to his importance in the history of the Church. The stamps from the Pauline Year issue provide testimony to the works of Saint Paul, the Christian persecutor who became the “Apostle of the Gentiles”, and, along with Saint Peter, one of the “Apostles of Rome”, the cornerstones of the Church. REFERENCES:  Pauline Year: Conversion of Saint Paul Mini-Sheet, Scott 1392M (2008)  Imprisonment of Saint Paul Mini-Sheet, Scott 1394M (2008) |
