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Thursday 28 May 2009

Portugal - 800 Years Or the Franciscan Order

Portugal - 800 Years Or the Franciscan Order - Issue date: 2009/03/11
Stamp of 0,32€

First Day Cover

Souvenir Sheet

Portugal - 800 Years Or the Franciscan Order:

"When turning 25, Francis Bernardon, who had been born in the wealthiest family in Assisi, came to the conclusion that happiness and freedom could only be authentic when inspired in evangelical poverty. And he acted accordingly. With such conversion, the young of Assisi attracted his former companions to his new way of life, and gather twelve followers around the same ideal. In 1209, they all travelled to Rome to beg of Pope Innocent III the approval of their way of life, confirmed in 1223 by Honorius III Bull. The religious institute was henceforth called the Order of the Friars Minor (OFM).

A few years later, in 1212, Clare of Assisi, a noblewoman, tempted by the achievement of her fellow citizen Francis, founded the Order of Poor Ladies. She too succeeded in requesting and gaining the “Privilege of Poverty” from the Pope, through a Rule approved in 1253, although the approval was only achieved on the eve of her death. Thus the Order of Saint Clare (OSC) was created.

In the year 1214, and in view of the growing devotion among the Christian people towards the innovative modality of this evangelic way of living, Francis wrote a letter to all the faithful, inspiring the creation of the Secular Franciscan Order (SOF), which first Rule was approved by the Holy See in 1289. In the 15th century, a movement of life in community, with both male and female branches, grew out of the Third Order. From this movement emerged, in 1521, the Rule of the Third Order Regular (TOR).

The Friars Minor came to Portugal around 1216. One of their first and most notable conquests was Saint Anthony of Lisbon (a. 1190-1231), who found enormous richness in the poverty of the Friar Minors. In 1258, the Nuns of the Order of Saint Clare also settled here, initially in the city of Lamego, but transferred shortly afterwards to Santarém. Also the Third Order of Penitence, founded to congregate all the laypeople who wished to follow the example of Saint Francisco, was exceptionally well accepted by all social classes since the 13th century.

When the Liberal Government decided, in 1834, to extinguish all the Regular Orders, the Order of the Friars Minor held more Religious Houses than all the other Orders together, on the Portuguese Mainland, on Madeira and on the Azores alone.

From 1834 to 1940 the Franciscans remained clandestine, although they continued to work in Portugal as much as they could. In 1891 they restored the Province of Portugal, from the Varatojo Convent. The branch of the Capuchin Friars Minor returned to Portugal in 1939 and the branch of the Friars Minor Conventual a few years later, in 1978. Also the Clarisse Sisters were able to re-emerge, in particular in the 1950’s. The Secular Franciscan Order, precisely because it was secular, was not extinguished in 1834 whereby it could act as an important support to the “egress” friars. The male TOR was not restored, but the female TOR multiplied after 1871, when several Franciscan Sisters’ Congregations of Consecrated Life were created.

Throughout its eight centuries of history, the Franciscan family has always been the one with the greatest number of members and of apostolate work, in Portugal as well as in the rest of the World."


Friar Henrique Pinto Rema

Monday 25 May 2009

China - 01-02-2009


Thanks to Cheng:
Cover sent from China to Portugal on 01 February, 2009.

Qatar - Migratory Locust - Sabre-toothed Beetle


Thanks to Rodel,
Cover sent from Qatar to Portugal on 24-05-2009 with two stamps: Migratory Locust - Sabre-toothed Beetle.

United States of America - Breast Cancer Symposium Station


Thanks to Gerard:
Cover sent from United States of America - Breast Cancer Symposium Station stamp and cancelation postmark.

Sunday 24 May 2009

China - Tiger Postcard



Thanks to Abay:
Tiger postcard sent from China to Portugal on 16-01-2009.

Brazil - U.P.U. Congress Brazil 1979


Brazil - U.P.U. Congress Brazil Rio de Janeiro 1979. Sir Rowland Hill Centenary 1879-1979.

Friday 22 May 2009

Portugal - Aquihaselo – Science in Portugal

Aquihaselo
Issue Date: 2009/03/04



First Day Cover:

"Aquihaselo – MULTIPLICATION TABLE:
We are a group of 3rd-grade pupils from the EB1/JI Sá de Miranda School in Oeiras.
Last school year, when we were in the 2nd grade, we learned about the competition promoted by the Portuguese Postal Services, CTT, and we decided to participate with a topic which, at that time, was really testing us: the multiplication table.
In the beginning we found this mathematic content to be quite amusing, however, to some of the pupils in the class, committing it to memory was not an easy task.

Therefore we thought that creating a stamp around this theme might motivate our classmates and also help many children from other schools.

But how should we make the stamp?
Sometimes we sang a multiplication table song, but then a stamp doesn’t sing…
We wanted a stamp that was also a game… but how could we make a stamp into a game?
We put our heads together and dwelt on it, exchanged ideas, scribbled a few lines, drew, erased, sat down at the computer … and a stamp was born. All in a game of discovery, because math doesn’t have to be boring. And while we played the game we laughed, smiled, memorized and learned.
And because playing with numbers is also to learn, we encourage all children to play our stamp.
Do you want to guess?


Play the game and you may learn the multiplication table!


Aquihaselo – Science in Portugal:
The stamp created by Nuno Micaêlo, dedicated to the theme «Science in Portugal», arose from Nuno’s wish to divulge a scientific discovery made by Portuguese scientists, thus promoting national research and using a privileged communication support for the purpose.
The illustration on this stamp represents the active centre of an enzyme called CotA-lacase, which has been identified in the bacteria Bacillus subtilis; it has some very interesting features from the functional point of view, given its wide-ranging applications in the field of biotechnology. Besides its capacity to wear-down compounds produced during industrial processes, the so called highly pollutant phenols, this enzyme has a potential in bioremediation, in the formation of biopolymers (most commonly used in plastic manufacturing), in the processing of fruit juices, as biosensors, and in the wear-down of a vegetable fibre called lignin.
On the stamp, different atoms in the enzyme’s activity centre have been coloured; among these, the central orange atom stands out; it represents the copper atom that enables the enzyme to function. In its role as a cultural and social disseminator, the stamp this time discloses an important scientific discovery which, after all, can also be an artistic representation." in ctt

Wednesday 6 May 2009

United Nations - FDC Postal Card 1969 - 20 Centimes


First Day of Issue - United Nations - 20 Centimes UN/Geneva Definitive Postal Card 1969.

United Nations - FDC Postal Card 1969 - 30 Centimes


First Day of Issue - United Nations - 30 Centimes UN/Geneva Definitive Postal Card 1969.

United Kingdom - London


Cover sent from London to Vermont, USA.

United Nations - Postal Card


Postal Card from United Nations - Air Mail

Slovenia - Borovnica 21-04-2009


Thanks to Ziga:
Cover sent from Borovnica, Slovenia to Portugal on 21 April, 2009.