PARAGUAY, 1956, the 4th centenary of Ignatius' death (from a set of
five), Scott 522
featuring Jacopino
del Conte's portrait of Ignatius above the reduction named for him, San
Ignacio Guazú
PARAGUAY, 1966, the 350th anniversary of San Ignacio Guazú (from a set of 8), Scott 939-942
San Ignacio Guazú is one of many Jesuit missions in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. This mission is called guazú, Guaraní for large, to distinguish it from the St. Ignatius mission in Argentina called San Ignacio Mini, Guaraní for small. Jesuit priests Marcial de Lorenzana and Francisco de San Martín were led by the native Arapysandú to this place, where they raised an altar and on 29 December, 1609 celebrated the first Mass. The mission was officially established in 1610 when St. Roque González de Santa Cruz organized its founding and turned it into the center for the Jesuit reductions in Paraguay. The Jesuits gathered the usually nomadic natives into these reductions (communities) to teach and evangelize them, and to protect them from exploitation and enslavement by the Europeans. At the Suppression of the Society the missions were destroyed and only the ruins remain. Voltaire, no friend of the Society, nevertheless wrote, "The establishment in Paraguay by the Spanish Jesuits appears alone, in some way, the triumph of humanity. It seems to expiate the cruelties of the first conquerors. The Quakers in North America and the Jesuits in South America gave a new spectacle to the world."
PARAGUAY, 1998, Mercosur (Common Market of Latin America) issue, Scott
2594
the Jesuit Mission of Jesús, side entrance
PARAGUAY, 1955, surcharged in 1959, Scott 496,
550, C230, C256
the same door at the Jesús Mission
1955, FDI cancel for the 1955 Jesuit Missions issue (above and below)
These stamps are part of set of 15 to honor Monseñor Augustin Rodríguez (1900-1996) on the silver anniversary of his ordination. They show views of five different Jesuit missions, or rather of their ruins.
PARAGUAY, 1955, surcharged in 1959, Scott 495,
549, C229, C255
a gate at Ss. Cosmas and Damian Mission.
PARAGUAY, 1994, on the occasion of a total solar eclipse, Scott 2496
The sundial is that build by Fr. Buenaventura Suarez,
SJ,
and is located at the Mission of Ss. Cosmas and Damian