On April 7, 1987, Vatican City issued a series of stamps commemorating the sixteenth centenary of the conversion and baptism of St. Augustine.
St. Augustine (Aurelius Augustine) was born at Thagaste, Numidia (present-day Algeria) on November 13, 354. Although his mother raised him as a Christian, he initially looked upon Christianity with scorn. Educated in Carthage, he went on to teach rhetoric in Rome and Milan. In Milan, St. Ambrose converted him to Christianity, and he was baptized there during the Easter Vigil in 387. Augustine eventually returned to North Africa and was ordained a priest in 391. Five years later, he became bishop of Hippo (present-day Annaba, Algeria).
One of Augustine's most famous works is the "Confession," an account of his life up to the time of his conversion. He also wrote the "City of God," a defense of Christianity that was prompted by Rome's capture by the Goths in 410. Augustine died in Hippo in 430. In 1295, Pope Boniface VIII (d. 1303) declared him a Doctor of the Church. Catholics celebrate his feast day on August 28.
The 2,200-lire stamp depicts St. Augustine in a detail from the "Disputa del Sacramento," a fresco by Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520) in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
Along the top of each stamp appear the words POSTE VATICANE, the value, and the inscription S. AGOSTINO 387-1987. The stamps, vertical in format, measure 30 x 40 mm, and have a perforation of 13 1/4 x 14. The Italian State Polygraphic Institute and Mint printed 550,000 complete series on white chalky paper by multicolor rotogravure, and Vatican City issued the stamps in sheets of twenty.
