The philatelic, postcard and numismatic exhibition organized by the Circolo Filatelico Peloritano as part of the celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi opened this morning in the presence of numerous students. On the occasion of the exhibition, in the Sanctuary of San Francesco all’Immacolata, on the morning of Saturday 3 October, a temporary philatelic service of the Italian Post Office will be activated equipped with a postmark dedicated to San Francesco and the first Temple of the Franciscan Order in Sicily built in 1254, just 28 years after his death in 1226. To commemorate the event, the “Circolo Filatelico Peloritano” has created a postcard depicting a period image of the Church of viale Boccetta and the statue of the Saint, which can be franked with Franciscan stamps and stamped thanks to the special stamp. Also printed, in a limited edition, is a folder with interesting historical and philatelic contents.
The collections on display at the exhibition touch on themes obviously dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, but also to scouting and Antonello da Messina, the great fifteenth-century artist who painted the apses of the Temple in the famous “Christ in Pietà supported by three angels” preserved in the Correr Museum in Venice.
Antonello, who was born in the neighboring district of Sicofanti, as is known, met and was inspired by Smeralda Eustochia Calafato, who later became a Saint, who lived near the ancient Church of San Francesco, to create the very famous “Annunciata”, today kept in the Regional Gallery of Sicily in Palazzo Abatellis in Palermo. Finally, a corner has been reserved for numismatics: on the showcase the splendid and precious coins issued for San Francesco by the Italian Republic, the Vatican and San Marino. Among the events, worth mentioning is the Blessing of the animals, on Saturday afternoon, in the Sanctuary square