Christmas 2023
The Greccio Nativity

The Vatican postage stamps dedicated to Christmas 2023 celebrate the Greccio Nativity Scene, now marking its 800th anniversary [in 2023]. The first nativity scene in the world has its roots going back to 1223 when, on his way to Greccio, Saint Francis decided to represent the Nativity in that place so dear to him on Christmas night by recreating the mystical atmosphere of Christmas in Bethlehem. In this grotto where Saint Francis created a representation of the Nativity of Jesus, a small Chapel of the Nativity was built in the year of the Saint’s canonization in 1228. The Chapel marks the original nucleus of the current Sanctuary of Greccio, known throughout the world as the Franciscan Bethehem where every year since 1973 the event is faithfully re-enacted. The postage stamps that make up the Christmas series, values of €1.25 and €1.30, feature two works by the painter Piero Casentini showing respectively “Saint Francis Celebrating the Feast of the Nativity in Greccio” created in 2004 and “The Adoration of the Magi” in 2006. The stamp booklet contains two sets of stamps and on the cover shows a detail of the painting “The Miracle of Greccio” painted in 1902 by the Franciscan friar Michelangelo Cianti. The work is found in the Franciscan friary of San Bonaventura in Frascati, Italy. Christmas 2023 Booklet Pane Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 1843-1844 Date Issued - 23 November 2023 Face Value - €1.25, €1.30

(Source: Vatican Notes, Volume 72, Issue 399, pp. 5-6, 2024)