(19-02-2024) PHILATELIC ENVELOPE 2024

“In this time of preparation, I would greatly desire that we devote 2024, the year preceding the Jubilee event, to a great ‘symphony’ of prayer” (Letter of Pope Francis to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization). Welcoming the Holy Father’s intentions, the philatelic envelope with a printed value of € 3.20 also aims to be a further ‘note’ of that symphony. The illustration on the left depicts Pope Francis gathered in prayer with a rosary in his hands before Our Lady of Fatima. The value imprint bears the representation of a person praying, one of the most common found in Christian catacombs starting from the early third century. Usually a woman or man is portrayed standing with arms raised as an act of prayer. The individual praying represents not only a single person but in general the entire Church in prayer.