The Vatican will anticipate the canonisation of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata – or Mother Teresa as she is best known – with a special postage stamp, which will be released 2 September, two days before Pope Francis officially declares her a saint.
The Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office announced the stamp's release 5 August and distributed initial images of it.
The 95-cent stamp features a wrinkled but radiant Mother Teresa smiling in her blue-trimmed, white sari. Overlaid on the design by Patrizio Daniele is another image of her holding the hand of a small child.
"Frail but equally determined in her vocation, Mother Teresa loved God and the Church with great strength, simplicity and extraordinary humility, glorifying with her life the dignity of a most humble service," said the brochure announcing the stamp's release.
"She was a humble messenger of the Gospel and of Christ's love, known as 'a small pencil in the hands of the Lord,' doing her work quietly and always with great love," it said.
"She assisted the poor, the sick and the abandoned with tireless dedication, offering smiles and simple gestures, finding strength to persevere with her vocation through prayer and trust in God."
The philatelic office said it would print and sell a maximum of 150,000 sheets of 10 stamps each.
The Vatican has also recently released a stamp series illustrating the Corporal Works of Mercy.
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