Easter, the Christian holiday that calls on people to take the Holy Light, brings the unique joy of the Resurrection, but also rituals and religious traditions. Among which that of the salute known by even the youngest ones: Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
On the last night of their bondage in Egypt, the Jews followed the command of the Lord, sacrificing a lamb that they roasted and took with them, alongside the unleavened bread (wafer) while they left the land of the Pharaohs. Transformed into an annual celebration under the name of Pesah (from Hebrew: to skip over, to spare, to overcome), this was also celebrated by Christ.
The New Testament texts contain in the verses several concrete moments, meant to prove the earlier statement.
The last supper that Jesus ate with His disciples at Jerusalem shortly before He was crucified, was a Passover meal. The Christian Easter is the celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection, the third day after the descent in the grave of Messiah’s body, as we pray in our Credo: “… and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…”.
The third day was Sunday, so Christian Easter is always celebrated on Sunday. By the glorious victory of Jesus Christ on death, we celebrate Easter and the Resurrection of the Lord, but also the consequence of the Resurrection, that is, our passing from death to life.
Regarding the date in the calendar for the celebration of the Christian Easter, the Ecumenical Synod of Nicaea in 325 established that all the Christian world should celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the full moon of the vernal equinox, preceding the Jewish Passover. The practice of our Church establishes that Easter cannot be celebrated earlier than April 3rd and mandatory on a Sunday.
The thematic issue „The Holy Easter 2019” is composed of two postage stamps with a face value of Lei 1.50 each and a perforated souvenir sheet whose stamp has a face value of Lei 28.50.
The postage stamps reproduce the images that are found in the Miscellany works of church chants, having as authors Mitrofan, the Patriarch of Constantinople (306-314) and St. Gregory of Sinai (1255-1346), respectively The Bishop’s Missal of Stephen, the Metropolitan of Wallachia (17th century), from the patrimony of Library of the Romanian Academy.
The work is a brilliant example for bringing Western elements into miniature art. Taking on foreign elements what corresponded to the Romanian plastic language, in the spirit of his own artistic tradition and vision, the copyist made a masterpiece of the Romanian miniatures.
The postage stamps reproduce the scenes of the Crucifixion and respectively, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, imagined in drawings made by the writers and illustrators of the pages of the mentioned works.
The perforated souvenir sheet of the issue entirely reproduces the image of the page bearing the number 44 in the Bishop’s Missal, being illustrated the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ’s scene.
On the First Day Cover of the issue is represented the ornamental letter The Last Supper, and in the lower register are illustrated: The Crucifixion Cross, The Myrrh-bearing women at the empty tomb, The Resurrection, The Holy Trinity, the second coming of Jesus, the elements being taken over from the work the Bishop’s Missal of Stephen, the Metropolitan Bishop of Wallachia (17th century).
The postage stamp issue is completed by one “first day” cover, as page composition in sheet of 28 stamps, minisheet of 8 stamps + 1 label, special block of 2 stamps (the perforated set of the issue together with the perforated souvenir sheet), special block of 2 imperforated stamps (set of the issue), perforated souvenir sheet and special format sheets with perforated stamp enclosed in philatelic album.
The postage stamp issue “The Holy Easter 2019” will be available on Friday, March 22th 2019, in Romfilatelia’s shops network in Bucharest, Bacau, Brasov, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi and Timisoara and online on https://romfilatelia.ro/store/.
Romfilatelia thanks to the Library of the Romanian Academy for the documentary and photographic support granted to the achievement of this postage stamps issue.
For further information, please contact the Public Relation Office:
Tel: 021 / 337 24 42
