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Portugal
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CHRISTMAS 2019 ~ THE THREE WISE MEN.” Unique
~ MNH Miniature Sheet ! The
World’s first stamp with a LED (Light Emitting Diode) !! A
light-emitting diode (LED) adds extra radiance to the Star of Bethlehem on Portugal’s
Christmas souvenir sheet !! The LED is part of the star at the top of the single €3.50 stamp in the souvenir sheet. The star’s light illuminates the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph. An ox and
a donkey are resting outside the stable. This Unique MS has a LED light built into the miniature sheet and gets activated with the NFC (near field communication) touch of the smartphone (need to
activate the NFC capability in your android smartphone.) Please
see this video on You tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=so5VSb5oeKM&feature=emb_title Over
the centuries, the story of the Three Wise Men, also known as the Three Kings
or Magi, gained a plasticity that did not just make it a theological and
iconographic reality far richer than the biblical text, but also catapulted it
into a unique place in popular Christian culture. Now
when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, there
came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying: Where is he that is born King
of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him
(Matthew 2: 1-2). Their
names were given by Venerable Bede (673-735), who is believed to have
systematised various traditions and who stated that Melchior was an old man of
70, with white hair and beard, a native of Ur, like Abraham; that Gaspar was a
robust young man who had set o from a distant mountainous region near the
Caspian Sea; and that Balthazar came from the Persian Gulf, had a thick beard
and was around 40. The scant iconography from this period does not present them
as Kings. The
transition from Magi to Kings is thought to have taken place after the reign of
Otto II (955-983), Holy Roman Emperor and German King, after the translation of
their relics to Europe and, possibly, their canonisation. The posture of
adoration, typical in these gures, takes on an ideological slant with this
elevation to monarchs: the Kings kneel before the divine gure and, by
extrapolation, before the Emperor imbued with its holy power. The
Three Kings have a dual function. On one hand, they help situate the narrative
in history by relating it to a monarch, Herod. On the other hand, they allow
for the introduction, at the very start of the narrative about Jesus, of the
Messianic message and that of the rejection to which he would be subjected.
With these Magi, we are told that even pagans would adore the Jewish Messiah,
as if confirming the universality of his salvation. This
episode, which sparked his persecution, humanises the Messiah, giving him the
immense vulnerability of a pursued child, pre guring the martyrdom he would go
through. The seemingly innocent dialogue between the Magi and Herod sets Jesus
o on the narrow path between Good and Evil; essentially, the concretisation of
his function as King, Son of God. And
when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his
mother, and fell down, and worshipped him; and when they had opened their
treasures, they presented unto him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh. And
being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they
departed into their own country another way. (Matthew 2: 11-12). Gold,
frankincense and myrrh were the offerings from these Magi to the young King,
whose birth had been indicated by a star, a symbol of his royalty. For the
Church Fathers, these three elements symbolised: gold, royalty; frankincense,
divinity; and myrrh, the passion. The
symbolic centre is, naturally, Light. It is the star that guides these Magi; it
is the star that marks the birthplace of He who would bring Light to the world.
Coming from afar to pay homage to the new King, the Magi came to receive the
Light. This is the theme of the “Christmas” issue presented here, leading us on
that vast cultural and religious journey whose value is the cumulation of the
image of the search, the path and the Light. Date of Issue: 22 October 2019. (PR5). |