MAX Lennox is proud of his impressive collection of great religious art works – including The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, and The Elevation of the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens.
“While some of the greatest artists applied their talents to canvas, I have those wonderful canvases reproduced on stamps,” he said.
Mr Lennox has amassed tens of thousands of beautiful stamps during a lifetime as a collector, however in the past 18 months he has turned his stamp passion to collecting exclusively on two Catholic themes – The Holy Rosary and the Stations of the Cross.
The 80-year-old retired accountant, a member of the Stella Maris Parish, Maroochydore, believes his collections are unique.
He spends at least 20 hours a week sourcing the stamps, curating his collection and sharing it with others to see and appreciate.
The Stations of the Cross collection contains dozens of stamps for each of the 14 stations depicting Christ’s Passion.
They come from states as diverse as Vatican City, Burundi and Lesotho.
“These stamps are so brilliant. I’ve collected them from all over the world,” Mr Lennox said.
“On these stamps the genius of great artists has captured the moments and stages of Christ’s Way of the Cross.”
Not only are the stamps works of art, they can be put to use.
Mr Lennox’s parish priest Fr Joe Duffy decided the stamps would be a perfect for this year’s Easter Vigil Mass.
“Our church is being rebuilt and so we held Mass in a hall,” Fr Duffy said.
“So we used an overhead projector to enlarge the stamps for the entire congregation to see.”
Mr Lennox has collected stamps for 60 years.
“My grandmother gave me a stamp book and it went from there. I just like collecting stamps,” he said.
“I gave it away to play football, I gave it away again when I got married and when I started my accountancy business – but I always seem to come back to it.”
Having his own accountancy practice, Mr Lennox developed international clients and so developed the perfect network to buy stamps from all over the world.
He believes stamp collecting can be not only fun, but a great source of learning.
Mr Lennox has collected stamps on many themes over the years, including Prime Ministers of Australia and Australian women – his collection includes stamps of St Mary MacKillop.
But nothing has quite fired his stamp-collecting passion than collecting stamps with a religious theme.
“I thought it was important to do. I’m not sure what will happen to it when I die. I thought I might give it to one of the local Catholic schools,” Mr Lennox said.
By Mark Bowling
