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We get our mail very late in the day. Over the months it has been delivered later and later and often I meet the mail truck at 7 pm at our postal box. On New Year Eve I did not rush to the mailbox, as my wife and I were staying home for the evening, watching the TV and enjoying some time together. When I did go to the mailbox, which is down on the street corner, I was surprised to find a package from the Vatican Post Office. Yelp, it had finally come! Postmarked from Vatican City on the 26th of October 2020, it had arrived at my mailbox on the 31st of December 2020. I came back home, sat in my chair, and opened the package as my wife looked through the rest of the mail. I managed to put the stamps aside for the evening, leaving further study for another day. 
Among the new items sent from the Vatican Post Office was the 2020 postcards. Digging out the UFN bulletin I learned that Pope Francis had announced a special year of reflection on the encyclical Laudato si'. (See references for a link to the full text of of the Laudato si' encyclical.) In the Laudato si' encyclical, Pope Francis identifies care for our environment as the moral issue of our times. The 2020 postcards show pictures of mosaics from the Gregorian Chapel of the moon, water, palms, and sun to represent that concern. On the back of each postcard is a pre-printed stamp of Our Lady of Succor (also known as Our Lady of Help). 
This stamp image is made based on the painting of Our Lady of Succor which hangs over the altar in the Gregorian Chapel in St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Paschal II (1099—1118) commissioned the image of the Madonna and Child by an unknown artist for the altar of St. Leo in the transept of old St. Peter’s. The fresco was later detached from the wall around 1543 or 1544 and moved. The altar, dedicated in honor of the Madonna del Soccorso, was torn down within a few decades of its construction. The image was then installed over the altar in the Gregoriana Chapel in the new St. Peter's Basilica on February 12, 1578. In recent years there has been restoration work of the painting. This has been sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. 
References: • Laudato si' Encyclical http://www.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si_en.pdf • Louise Rice, The Altars And Altarpieces Of The New St Peters: Outfitting The Basilica 1621-1666; Cambridge University Press (1997) • Pietro Zander, Unveiling The Beauty Of Our Lady Of Help http://www.kofc.org/en/columbia/detail/beauty-our-lady-help.html |
