The Church of St. Christophorus in Berlin hosted on 21 November the official presentation of the annual Christmas special postage stamp issued by Germany’s Ministry of Finance.

This year, it features the message of the angel in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2 verse 10: “The Saviour is born to you today”.

The stamp costs 1.25 euros, of which 40 cents go to support social cohesion and will specifically support the work of the Federal Association of Independent Welfare Organisations.

The Bible text

The biblical text says: “And the angel said to them: ‘Do not be afraid! Behold, I proclaim to you great joy, which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this is a sign: You will find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger’. A child in a manger, born in a feeding trough - that is where the Saviour can be found. It was there in Bethlehem, in the simplest of circumstances, that the angel's good news began”.

The Finance Ministry explained on its website that “Saviour - etymologically it means ‘to heal, to make whole, to make well’; in religious language, the term is used in reference to Jesus Christ as the equivalent of ‘Saviour’ and ‘Redeemer’.

“God comes close to people in space and time”

A description by Joachum Ochel, of the mainline Protestant Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD) adds: “God comes close to people in space and time and meets them in Jesus Christ with flesh and blood - that is the mystery of Christmas, which cannot be conclusively considered theologically, sung about musically and artistically across spaces and across time”.

The design of the postage stamp was created by nexd, in Düsseldorf. The stamp is available at Deutsche Post AG sales outlets since 2 November 2023.

The 2021 Christmas stamp of the German Postal Service was based on the verse: "Do not fear".

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