Greetings on Easter…

Easter is the day when Jesus Christ was crucified and the Christians offer prayers and services in the Churches. Easter is another important festival for Christians. On this day Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Easter eggs and Easter bunnies are a major attraction during Easter, the festival of rejuvenation of life and living.

New Stamps on Easter

The Serbian Post has issued two stamps dedicated to the Easter Feast. For Orthodox Christians, Easter is the holiest day of the year. It marks Christ's resurrection from the dead and the end of 46 days of fasting with a sumptuous feast.

In Serbian Easter is called Vaskrs, a liturgical form inherited from the Serbian recension of Church Slavonic. The Easter service in the orthodox church starts at 11 on Saturday night and ends at midnight with the priest chanting "Hristos Vaskrse" (he is risen) three times.

Croatian Post has released fourteen new commemorative postage stamps with the theme "Easter - Stations of the Cross". Each stamp depicts one of the fourteen Stations of the Cross,the depiction of the final hours in the life of Jesus Christ. and has a face value of HRK 3.10.

The tradition of the Stations of the Cross originated in pilgrimages to Jerusalem, where pilgrims followed the footsteps of Christ to the cross.

Club News

Philatelic & Numismatic exhibition in Trichur

Shrine Bassilica of our Lady of Dolours and Trichur Philatelic Club is jointly organising a three day Philatelic cum Numismatic display on "Pope John Paul II and Christianity" from 29th April 2011 to 01st May 2011 on the occasion of Beatification of Pope John Paul II at Vatican which coincides with 25th Anniversary of John Paul II visit to Trichur, Kerala.

Venue: Bassilica Jubilee Hall, Trichur.

A Special cover on Pope John Paul II will also be released on this occasion

: Sreejesh Krishnan, Trivandrum

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New Stamps on Easter

 

Date of Issue – 1 March  2011

Magyar Posta ( Hungary) issued stamp to commemorate Easter on 1st March 2011.The stamp design uses a reproduction of a work by the textile artist Erzsébet Szekeres entitled Hungarian Golgotha. The stamp’s first day cover is adorned by a detail from another work by the same artist, Lamb of God. The graphic design of the special postmark employs a stylised version of the lamb on the cover.

The word golgotha is derived from the Hebrew gulgoleth, and the Aramaic transcription of this (gulgalta) has been adopted and adapted in modern use. In Greek this is kranion, while the Latin translation calvaria provides the deriva-tion of our word calvary. The word means skull or place of skulls. Originally, it was the name of a hill in a quarry north north-west of Jerusalem, which was a place of execution in ancient times. The name probably refers to the skulls remaining from the executions. According to the Gospels this is the place where Jesus was crucified and buried.

: Magyar Posta

Easter stamp from Vatican City

Date of Issue – 21 March 2011

 

The stamp features the central moment of the salvific mission of  Lord ??? the Resurrection ??? as seen in a detail of a wall mural located at the main entrance to the Sistine Chapel. The fresco is perhaps one of the least known of the Sistine Chapel and is a work by Flemish painter Hendrick van den Broeck. It is a copy of an original by Ghirlandaio which was destroyed when the door frame collapsed in 1522. The painting is one the masterpieces of the 1400s alongside the frescoed walls and great paintings by Michelangelo.

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New Easter Stamps from Poland..

 

 

   

To be issued on  25 March 2011

 

 

 

Club News

From our Readers….

Slogans on Postal receipts

2011  Year of Forests

: Ashwani Dubey, Gorakhpur 

 

A hospital for Birds

 

Private  First Day cover

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Jain Bird Hospital
The Jain Bird Hospital in Delhi's Chandni Chowk was founded in 1956 and today has a capacity of 10,000 birds. 60-70 new patients are brought into the hospital each day by Jains and non-Jains alike and each bird is assessed by the hospital's doctor before being given a designated cage. There are separate ‘wards' for different types of birds and different illnesses, with separate areas for birds awaiting or recovering from surgery. The commonest patients are pigeons, doves, parrots and budgies but the hospital also cares for some peacocks and crows. The occasional golden eagle is even to be seen on the wards though due to their tendency to eat other patients they must be kept in solitary confinement.

75% recovery rate
Patients at the bird hospital can be divided into three categories: those suffering from diseases (notably cancer, paralysis or blindness), accidents (in particular collisions with cars, ceiling fans and glass window panes) or malnutrition. Depending on their condition the birds can be given surgery, have broken wings and bones set and bandaged, or be administered antibiotics and other drugs. All of the patients are given a high-nutrient diet during their hospital stay and each Saturday birds that have sufficiently recovered are released from the hospital roof. The hospital boasts an admirable 75% recovery rate and also ensures that those birds that are not so fortunate are respectively cremated on the banks of the nearby Jamuna River.

- Sanjiv Jain, Dehradun

email : jainsanjiv@live.com

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New Stamp on Easter..

 

Date of Issue – 4 March 2011

On 4 March 2011, the Slovak Post issued a new stamp to commemorate Easter, the most important Christian festival. A beautiful Maxim Card in sparkling colors  was also issued.

Just like the blood of the Lamb of God saved the old Israelites in ancient Egypt from ten plagues of God, the death of Jesus Christ saved all Christians from eternal damnation. Therefore, the lamb became a symbol not only of Jesus Christ, but also of the Easter.

Old Slavs used to place painted eggs of clay to the dead into their graves. In Christianity, the egg is interpreted as a symbol of the closed grave from which Christ rose from the dead as a symbol of immortality. The folk tradition is connected with the custom of painting these eggs. The reason for eating eggs at Easter was probably the fact that it was not allowed to eat eggs in Lent. Similarly, the character of the Easter bunny, which now brings children chocolate eggs, has the archaic origin. In various cultures, the bunny is very often an attribute of immortality or resurrection, just like the motif of chick, which is hatched from the egg.

This year's issue of postage stamp dedicated to Easter displays the aforementioned symbolism in the form of traditional sweets typical for different regions of Slovakia. The stamp shows the Lamb of God - Agnus Dei with topping of whipped egg whites. FDC pictures the Easter chicks of egg whites with chocolate-butter cream decorated with marzipan, which also fall within the broader framework of folk art.

 

: Slovak Post

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