Ireland’s national postal service An Post issued a new stamp in October to mark the 100th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal. Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, welcomed the new stamp in a tweet from his account @ArchbishopEamon, inviting the faithful to post a prayer card to a loved one.
Details of the new €1.35 stamp were included in the quarterly An Post booklet The Collector. Designed by 2b:creative, a design house based in Lisburn, Co Down, the new stamp features a statue from Fatima of the Virgin Mary. The statue was purchased by Archbishop Martin when, in 2015, he led a pilgrimage from Armagh and Belfast to Fatima in preparation for the centenary of the apparitions. The statue of Our Lady is on display in his oratory.
The commemorative stamp and the first day cover can be purchased on www.irishstamps.ie.
2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. Between 13 May and 13 October of 1917 three shepherd children, Lucia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, reported visions of the Virgin Mary. Pope Francis travelled to Fatima on the Feast day of Our Lady of Fatima in May where he canonised the young shepherds Jacinta and Francisco Marto.