The Great Feast of the Nativity, presented in the world of postage stamps, can be found in the Christmas 2024 philatelic issue that Romfilatelia will introduce into circulation on Friday, November 22nd, this year. It consists of two stamps, a perforated souvenir sheet, a First Day Cover and a special philatelic folder created in a limited run printing.
More than two millennia ago, near the city of David, known as Bethlehem, shepherds tending their flocks received an unexpected visit from an angel who spoke to them, saying: ‘Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ (Luke 2:11-12).
In the writings of the evangelists, the date of Jesus’ birth is not specified on the calendar, but by consensus, this great Christian celebration is observed on December 25th (according to the Gregorian calendar) or on January 7th (according to the Julian calendar).
Also known as Christmas, the holiday has become widely recognized as both a religious and secular celebration, adopted as the ‘holiday of gifts’. It is a celebration of joy, open hearts, and a day that seems to bring all time together. When it snows on Christmas Day, it is said to be ‘snowing with forgiveness’. People believe that if the Spirit of Christmas were kept alive all year, there would be peace and tranquillity.
The postage stamps of this philatelic issue depict in images the Nativity of the Lord: the symbol of the Holy Family and the Child in the manger (postage stamp with the face value of Lei 4) and the biblical atmosphere of the Nativity (postage stamp with the face value of Lei 13), which reproduces a work by the miniaturist Picu Pătruț. This scene is poetically described by George Coșbuc: ‘How Chirst was born in the cold, / In the humble manger / How the ox breathed over Him / To keep Him warm. / How the shepherds from the flock / Came to His manger / And angels singing from the sky, / With apple blossoms in hand’.
The postage stamp of the souvenir sheet (with the face value of Lei 33) reproduces a miniature created by the same Picu Pătruț, who was canonized as a saint in 1948. The scene, known as the Adoration of the Magi, depicts three figures, popularly known as the ‘three wise men from the East’, who arrived (guided by a Star) to bring royal gifts: gold, myrrh, and frankincense. The significance of the gifts: gold (symbolizing the future King of all Christians), frankincense (representing Jesus’ role as High Priest, performing eternal priestly duties), and myrrh (used in embalming, as a symbol of eternal life).
The First Day Cover features in its graphics a symbolic image of the Nativity: the Holy Family and the manger with the child.
On the occasion of Christmas, may the cup of life be filled with rich and eternal blessings, along with the opening of a path on which we discover concord, harmony, and peace along the way!
Romfilatelia thanks the representatives of the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant for the documentary support granted to the development of this issue of postage stamps.
