Christmas stamps and the First Sunday in Advent

At a time the political pessimism and religious oppression, political delusion and spiritual despair, we turn to Advent in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, in anticipation of Christmas Day and the revelation that God became man so that we might be reconciled to God. It is sometimes difficult to believe, but He is present in the world today, and He will come again in power and glory, and the government will be upon his shoulders.

This is a season of expectation, of hope, of anticipation, of excitement, of preparation, of longing. On this First Sunday in Advent, let us remember the One who one day will rule with truth, justice, righteousness and bring peace to the world.

And Cranmer would like to praise Royal Mail, for they have had an awful year. He does not wish to praise their service, for it is an inefficient monument to a bygone era, struggling under the weight of its own petty bureaucracy, crying out for radical reform. But he does wish to commend them for daring to continue to place Christian imagery in the public sphere.

Many of their thematic postage stamps have ceased to be concerned with tradition and greatness: they prefer instead the politically-correct relativities and micro-narratives of postmodernity. Snowmen and Aladdin compete with the Madonna and Child: arch-abortionist Marie Stopes is admitted while Benny Hill and Miss Piggy are prohibited, lest they cause offence.

But this year’s Christmas stamps are quality.

They consist of five images from stained-glass windows depicting the nativity. They are the work of three artists associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement — Henry Holiday, Edward Burne-Jones, and William Morris. They show the Madonna and Child (first-class), an angel (second-class), Joseph (56p), a Wise Man (90p), and a shepherd (£1.35).

Holiday’s Madonna and Child is taken from a detail of the window at St Michael’s, Ormesby St Michael, at Great Yarmouth. The chancel has three stained-glass windows, illustrating faith, hope, and love, and the Madonna is at the centre of the window portraying ‘love’.

The angel is from a window at St James’s, Staveley, a small village between Kendal and Windermere. The whole window is a combination of six angels; three on either side of a central panel, and all pulled together by a starry background.

The Wise Man appears in a window at the 900-year-old St Mary the Virgin, Rye, in East Sussex. They are all an inspiration and quite beautiful narration of the Christmas story through some of the country’s best examples of stained glass.

On this First Sunday in Advent, let us give thanks for this wonderful witness.