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Saint Francis Xavier, SJ (1506-1552)
Patron Saint of Missions

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Scott C503 Scott  647 
COLOMBIA, 1968, the 39th Eucharistic Congress in Bogota, Scott C503
based on Gregorio Vasquez's painting of Xavier preaching
INDIA, 1974, Scott 647, showing the sarcophagus and statue of the saint.
Xavier's sarcophagus crowns a marble monument, the gift of Cosmo III of Tuscany and executed by J.B.Foggini


Scott 607 
MACAO
, 1989, a mini sheet honoring Portuguese influence in Asia pictured Xavier on one of its stamps, Scott 607,
based on André Reinoso's painting (1619), St. Francis Xavier Calming a Storm at Sea,
which is at the Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Lisboa / Museu de São Roque, Lisbon, Portugal

Scott 753  Scott 901F
PANAMA
, Christmas of 1988, Scott 753
This painting by an unknown master shows The Virgin with Ignatius to the left and Xavier to the right.
BOLIVIA, Christmas of 1993, Xavier is at the bottom right in this painting of the Virgin and Child with Saints, Scott 901F

Scott 705 Scott 1965
The 450th anniversary of the arrival of Portuguese in Japan
MACAO, 1993, Scott 705, and PORTUGAL, 1993, Scott 1965

These religious are presumably the three Jesuit missionaries: St. Francis Xavier, Brother Juan Fernández, and Father Cosme de Torres, who left together from Goa for Japan on 17 April, 1549 and landed at the city of Kagoshima in Japan, 15 August 1549.


VATICAN, 16 March 2006, the triple Jesuit Jubilee year

Scott 2808 Scott 2808

Scott 2906 Scott 2807
PORTUGAL, 2006, the 500th anniversary of Xavier's birth: two individual stamps and a souvenir sheet, Scott 2806-08
The Indians are portrayed as North American Indians, a common error at one time.

 
COLOMBIA, 2006, the 500th anniversary of Xavier's birth
beside the statue of Xavier is the entrance to the Pontifical Xaverian University in Bogotá,
the inscription over the door reads 1623 Sapientia aedificavit sibi domum (Wisdom has built herself a house)

Scott 2771 
ITALY, 2006, the 5th centenary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier, Scott 2771
with details from André Reinoso, The Miracle of Saint Francis Xavier (1619)
at the Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Lisboa / Museu de São Roque, Lisbon, Portugal

The design on this Italian stamp is inspired by Reinoso's painting to its right. The painting illustrates a legendary miracle: St. Francis raising a dead person to life in Sri Lanka. As with the companion stamp of St. Ignatius, the design represents the saint with two others while ignoring other elements of the original, including here the deceased.

  Scott 3049d
SPAIN, 2006, the 500th anniversary of Xavier's birth
Spain used the Salaverría painting as it did in 1952.
In the background is a 19th-century Japanese painting of Xavier arriving in Kagoshima
(the editing has cleverly concealed the stain in the original).
PHILIPPINES, 2006, the 50th anniversary of Xavier School in the Philippines and the 500th of Xavier's birth, Scott 3049d
The stamps shows a bronze statue of Xavier by Virginia Ty-Navarro cast to mark the school's 20th year on its San Juan campus

Scott 1206   Scott 1209
MACAO, 2006, the Society of Jesus issue< Scott 1206, 1209

With its "Society of Jesus" issue of 4 stamps and a souvenir sheet, Macao marked various anniversaries, including the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier, the first Jesuit to set foot on Chinese soil, even if he did not reach mainland China for which he was heading.


AUSTRALIA, 2006, personalized label adjoining an Australian stamp
sponsored by Xavier College, Melbourne, Victoria
to celebrate the Three Companions Jubilee of 2006.
The stamp shows two views of the school and two images of Xavier.

  
SPAIN, 2007, three personalized stamps (tu sello) designed by Francisco Javier Martínez Malpartida
with a face value of "A" which is the national rate.
They show Xavier taking leave of his family to study in Paris, the Xavier castle and coat of arms,
the portrait of Xavier, and of the King John III of Portugal who send Xavier to the Indies.
There are also envelopes and post cards to accompany these stamps, examples of which are below.

Xavier as a Patron Saint for Protection Against the Plague

Scott 665
NIUE
, Christmas of 1993, Scott 665

The above stamp is based on Guido Reni's Madonna of the Rosary, a Pallione del Voto or processional banner to protect Bologna from plague. Reni portrayed seven saint protectors of the town, including Xavier, shown to the left of St. Dominic, even though Xavier had only been canonized a few years at the time of the painting.

Dr. Walter Nissel and Wilhelm Remeš reminds us in the recent book Die Jesuiten in der Philatelie that a number of Plague Columns have been erected in honor of the Trinity or of Mary to give thanks for deliverance from the plague. These columns, some of which have been depicted on stamps, contain images of saints especially regarded as protectors against the plague, St. Francis Xavier prominent among them.

Scott 317 Scott 790
CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1946, The Marian Column in Hodonin built in 1716, Scott 317
CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1957, The Marian Column in Moravska Trebova built in 1717, Scott 790

 
BOHEMIA & MORAVIA, 1939, The Marian Column in Olomouc built in 1716, Scott 33-34

C41 Scott 3178
CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1955, The Marian Column in Olomouc, Scott C41
CZECH REPUBLIC, 2002, The Trinity Column in Olomouc, Scott 3178

Scott 1443 Scott 1214
CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1967, The Marian Column in Jihlava built in 1690, Scott 1443
AUSTRIA, 1982, The Trinity Column in Langenlois built in 1713, Scott 1214

Xavier has also been commemorated in coinage and currency

Pick 71 
SPAIN issued a 25 peseta bill in 1926, Pick 71
The design on the reverse on the note continues the Xavier theme with a portrait of the saint baptizing.


KM 697
Courtesy of Don's World Coin Gallery

PORTUGAL issued a 200 escudo coin in 1997 in copper-nickel [Krause-Mishler 697], silver [KM 697a] and gold [KM 697b]
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