Romfilatelia has launched its 2019 Christmas stamp collection which this year features brightly coloured traditional Nativity scenes.
The Christmas set includes two denominated stamps indicating 1,70 lei reproducing images from the manuscript ‘Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God’ kept at the Romanian Academy Library.
The scenes shown on the stamps are summarized by Romfilatelia in a press release published on their website: “The magi about whom the Gospels speak about, coming from the East to worship the Saviour, symbolize the worship of all living things.”
“Tradition has even kept their names: Melchior, the old, who gifts gold, Gaspar, the young, who brings frankincense and Balthazar, the bearded one, who brings myrrh.”
“During their journey, the magi did not discover a star belonging to the astral system, but a star that marked the visible sign of celestial power. Apparently, it was a simple star, but its trajectory on the sky looked like a supernatural sign meant to lead them to the place of birth of the world Saviour.”
Romfilatelia also explained the signification of the gifts brought to the child Jesus in Bethlehem: “The gold was brought in the way it is brought to a King with an infinite reign in a kingdom with eternal brightness. The myrrh was brought in the way it is brought to a human being as the symbol of Calvary and cruel death. Frankincense was offered to Him as it is offered to God.”
“Gold symbolizes adoration and love, frankincense symbolizes the prayer, and the myrrh defines abnegation and mortification of sins. The gold is brought from Ophir, the frankincense is brought from Arabia, while the myrrh is brought from Ethiopia.”
Photography courtesy of Romfilatelia
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