The Third "Giornata delle Catacombe", called by the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology for 10 October 2020, will have as its theme the encyclical Laudato si', in particular the representation of nature, and therefore of the garden paradise, in the catacombs.
The Day, which this year is proposed in digital form, will be part of the initiatives of the Special Year of Laudato si', proposed by Pope Francis.
"We want to propose - the Commission has written on its website - the vision of nature as it is found in the Christian catacombs, in the frescoes and in the marble reliefs. The bucolic scenes, the representations of flowers, plants and animals, both isolated and inserted in biblical or symbolic representations, refer us back to the garden of the origins, to Eden and, at the same time, to Paradise, to the kingdom of the Blessed, in which the original beauty of creation is re-created and proposed as the final goal of the journey of life sustained by faith in the Risen One".
For this reason - we read forward - "in front of the images of creation, of the natural environment, sometimes essential and barely sketched other times luxuriant and rich in curious details, even if placed in a context dominated by darkness and the signs of death, it is spontaneous to exclaim: "What a paradise!", thinking both of the natural beauty as suggestive and attractive as ever, and of the ultimate goal of human existence, hoped for and desired not only by believers but by all humanity".
"The heavenly images of the catacombs ask us, then, to guard and take care of the paradise in which we live and live, entrusted to us by the Creator", concludes the note.
The programme of the Day is available on the website : www.giornatadellecatacombe.it .