Romfilatelia and Poșta Română dedicate to the event marking the consecration of the most representative edifice of Romanian Orthodoxy, a philatelic issue presented under the generic title The Consecration of the National Cathedral, which will be introduced into circulation on Friday, October 24th, this year. The issue consists of a postage stamp, a perforated souvenir sheet, two First Day Covers and a maxicard for maximaphily enthusiasts.
The National Cathedral in Bucharest is one of the most important and imposing monuments of the history and faith of our ancestors. It represents the materialization of one of the most ambitious projects related to the being of the Romanian nation. The idea of building a ‘Cathedral of the National Salvation’, which emerged during the reign of King Carol I, was strongly supported by Mihai Eminescu and Ioan Slavici, and formed the basis for the construction of a symbol of Romania.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel officiated the groundbreaking and consecration ceremony for the site designated for the construction of the Cathedral on November 29th, 2007.
The first Holy Liturgy was celebrated in the area adjacent to the main façade of the Holy Edifice on September 4th, 2016, on the occasion of the World Gathering of Orthodox Youth (ITO).
The altar of the Holy Place, consecrated in 2018 on the occasion of the Centenary of the Great Union by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and his Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, incorporated in the Holy Table the names of all known heroes from history (about 350,000), symbolically marking the act of construction as a historical sacrifice of the entire Romanian people for the unchanging preservation of the ancestral faith, as well as for the national freedom and independence achieved through relentless struggles, efforts, and sufferings.
On October 26th this year, the feast day of Saint Demetrius the Great Martyr, the Myrrh-Gusher of Thessaloniki, the National Cathedral will be consecrated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
The special moment will also be dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Romanian Orthodox Church being elevated to the rank of Patriarchate, as well as to the act of gaining of Romania’s Independence.
Following the consecration, the largest Orthodox cathedral in the world, with the largest Orthodox iconostasis, unique in the world in terms of size and mosaic technique, will be open to the public, with the faithful having permanent access to liturgical services.
The postage stamp of the issue, with the face value of Lei 5, depicts the image of an icon from the mosaic of the National Cathedral’s iconostasis with the image of Saint Andrew ‘the patron saint of all Romanians’. It is the Saint who preached in the lands of the Scythians on the territory of present-day Dobrogea, where the faithful have as a place of worship the ‘Saint Andrew’s Cave’, considered as the shelter of the apostle and his companions, his pilgrims as preachers of Christianity in the Black Sea areas.
The postage stamp (252×36 mm sizes) of the souvenir sheet, with the face value of Lei 30, depicts a large panorama of the Cathedral’s built-up area, flanked by two images of icons representing Jesus Christ and the Virgin and Child. The grandeur of the Cathedral, the largest Orthodox Cathedral in the world, is symbolically reflected by the postage stamp, whose dimensions exceed those of the previous philatelic record published by Guinness World Records.
The First Day Cover of the issue is created in two graphic variants, one with the postage stamp of the issue, together with the reproduction of the National Cathedral’s overall image, and the second First Day Cover with a detail graphic of the iconography of the National Cathedral’s ceiling, equipped with the perforated souvenir sheet of the issue.
Romfilatelia expresses its gratitude to His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel for the High Resolution and Blessing, as well as the representatives of the Romanian Patriarchate for the documentary support provided for the development of this postage stamp issue.
