October 2, 2014 – The Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, is a Catholic organisation with rich and varied activities to help those in need. And good deeds are rewarded, here with a commemorative coin from the Hungarian Mint.
Hungary/ 2,000 HUF/ Cu75Ni25/ 23.7 g/ 37 mm/ Design: Dániel Nagy, Orsolya Ráski-Nagy/ Mintage: 6,000 (PP), 4,000 (BU).
There are few organisations that have such a rich and varied development as the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The charitable activities of this organisation are extremely multi-faceted. Members are involved in healing the sick and distributing clothing. Others provide food to the homeless, or help over-indebted families to work out a viable budget. They drive ambulances and work as tutors for disadvantaged children in the afternoons. The callings are many, but there is one thing that unites them: they are all guided by the principle of Jesus that helping others is a central mission of our lives. To quote Father Imre Kozma, the founding president of the Charity Service: “We only find our home in the hearts of others. For a person’s true goal is found in others.”
Proof version.
The Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta is the Hungarian charity organisation of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. Its motto is: “Defense of the faith and assistance to the poor” and its symbol is the 8-pointed Maltese cross, with the eight branches representing the eight Beatitudes. The Charity Service is a Catholic organisation, which holds its main celebration on Holy Thursday. Part of the Catholic tradition on Holy Thursday is the washing of feet, a sign of love and humility exemplified by Christ. For the Order of Malta, this gesture also means that those who wish to help must always be ready to bow down themselves.
Edmund Leighton, The Charity of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
The obverse of the collector coin being issued by the Magyar Nemzeti Bank in honour of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta features Saint Elisabeth, a beloved saint in Hungary famous for caring for the sick and poor, shown as she offers bread to the needy. The reverse of the coin depicts the sign and the motto of the Charity Service, with a globe in the foreground symbolising the organisation’s wide scope of activity. The international activity of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta began 25 years ago when the organisation cared for many tens of thousands of East Germans prior to the opening of the borders and later supported the needy during the revolution in Romania and the wars in Yugoslavia. Nowadays, its programmes cover Hungary and the areas of the Carpathian Basin inhabited by Hungarians, extending to the Middle East and Pakistan and into central Africa.
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