On the occasion of the greatest celebration of Christianity, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Romfilatelia will introduce into circulation on Friday, April 5th this year, the Holy Easter 2024 issue, consisting of two postage stamps, a perforated souvenir sheet, a First Day Cover and a special philatelic album.
The “feast of feasts” brings to mankind the hope of salvation and eternal life, through the sacrifice of Jesus. Resurrection, according to Father Arsenie Boca, “is the only miracle that is shown to everyone, believers and non-believers”.
In a meditation on the subject of Lent, the Blessed Father Patriarch Daniel said: “In order to be able to bear the Cross of many trials and sanctify the help of the Crucified and Risen Christ, it is necessary to strengthen ourselves in faith, to increase prayer, to be for others a Simon of Cyrene, who helped Jesus carry His Cross on the way to Calvary. Just as the faithful who willingly carried the fasting cross receive the light, joy and blessing of Holy Easter, so also those who alleviate the suffering of their fellow men, through prayer and words of encouragement, through good deeds and devotedness, will feel the light and joy of the Resurrection of Christ in their hearts and His blessing in their lives and homes”.
The icons reproduced on the postage stamps and on the philatelic souvenir sheet presents three important sequences of the period called “Holly Week”: Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (the stamp with the face value of Lei 4), icon of Palm Sunday, in which the welcome of Jesus with honours as King carrying palm branches in his hands is presented. The Lord entered the City seated on a donkey; The Crucifixion (the stamp with the face value of Lei 33 within the philatelic souvenir sheet), icon of the ultimate sacrifice, in which the whole tragism of the Saviour’s Calvary is concentrated.
The Resurrection (the stamp with the face value of Lei 13), icon of the Easter Celebration, reproduces the image of victory over death by representing Jesus in the mandorla (almond-shaped aureole), stepping on the gates of hell and raising Adam and Eve from the grave.
The icons belong to the collection of the tricentennial Stavropoleos Monastery, founded by Archimandrite Ioannichie in 1724, dedicated to the Holy Archangels and Saint Athanasius the Great.
The Stavropoleos Monastery experienced a flourishing period of over a century and, after the departure of the Greek monks, came under the care of the Historical Monuments Commission, entering an extensive restoration process. The church was consolidated, the fresco restored, the tower was rebuilt and a new enclosure was built, according to the project of the architect Ion Mincu. It was reopened, as a chrism church, on December 6th, 1940, and a workshop for the restoration of church items was set up in the premises rooms.
After 1989, the new restoration works, carried out between 1996 and 2003, rendered the beauty and originality of the church and the premises, which make it one of the landmarks on the cultural and spiritual map of the Capital. Through the care of Father Iustin Marchiș, the monument was restored and liturgical and community life was reborn, after the difficult years of communism. In 2008 the monastery was reopened with a community of nuns. Now, in the premises rooms, a collection, a library and a community hall are set up, with icons, old books and art items, which capitalize on the past and the 300-year history of the Bucharest ktetory.
The Romfilatelia team wishes you Enlightened Holidays, together with your dear ones!
Christ is Risen!
The philatelic album, issued in a limited edition of 187 copies, reunites, in an original graphic presentation, the imperforated souvenir sheet of the issue and two collectible philatelic blocks, on which graphic elements are reproduced in gold foiling, one block being equipped with the two imperforated stamps of the series and one equipped with the two perforated stamps of the series in association with the reproduction of an engraving created by the famous plastic artist Octavian Ion Penda. The imperforated souvenir sheet and the two philatelic blocks are numbered from 001 to 187. The icons reproduced on the postage stamps of the Easter 2024 issue are part of the collection of the Stavropoleos Monastery in Bucharest.
Romfilatelia thanks His Beatitude Father Patriarch Daniel, for the blessing granted, and the Very Reverend Mother Abbess of the Stavropoleos Monastery, Stavrophore Mihaela Luchian, for the support given in the documentation and development of this issue of postage stamps.
