Portugal Banknotes 20 Escudos banknote 1964 Saint Anthony
Bank of Portugal - Banco de Portugal
Obverse: Portrait of Saint Anthony of Padua (Santo Antonio 1195 - 1231).
Reverse: View of the main façade of the Santo António Church with the Lisbon Cathedral in the background.
Watermark: João de Sousa Araujo.
Size: 135 x 76 mm
First Issue: 19 January 1965
Last Issue: 31 October 1977
Withdrawn from circulation: 30 May 1986.
Printer: Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd., New Malden, Surrey England.
Portugal banknotes - Portugal paper money
1964-1979 Issue
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Saint Anthony of Padua
Saint Anthony of Padua, Anthony also spelled Antony, Italian Sant’Antonio da Padova, original name Fernando (born 1195, Lisbon, Portugal — died June 13, 1231, Arcella, Verona [now in Italy]; canonized 1232; feast day June 13), Franciscan friar, doctor of the church, and patron of the poor. Baptized Ferdinand, he joined the Augustinian canons (1210) and probably became a priest. In 1220 he joined the Franciscan order, hoping to preach to the Saracens and be martyred. Instead, he taught theology at Bologna, Italy, and at Montpellier, Toulouse, and Puy-en-Velay in southern France, winning great admiration as a preacher. He died en route to Padua, Italy, where he is buried.
Anthony was the most celebrated of St. Francis of Assisi’s followers and had the reputation of a miracle worker. On January 16, 1946, Pope Pius XII declared him a doctor of the church. Padua and Portugal claim him as their patron saint, and he is invoked for the return of lost property. In art he is shown with a book, a heart, a flame, a lily, or the child Jesus. Among his authentic writings are sermons for Sundays and feast days, published at Padua in three volumes in 1979.
Santo António Church
The Santo António Church (Portuguese: Igreja de Santo António de Lisboa) is located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is dedicated to Saint Anthony of Lisbon (also known in the Christian world as Saint Anthony of Padua). According to tradition, the church was built on the site where the saint was born, in 1195. The church is classified as a National Monument.
Fernando de Bulhões - Saint Anthony - was born in Lisbon in 1195, the son of a wealthy family. In 1220, while studying in Coimbra, he entered the Franciscan Order, adopting the name António. His missionary travels would lead him to Italy, where he settled in Padua. Due to his immense popularity, he was canonised less than a year after his death, in 1232.
The site of the family house where Fernando was born, located very close to Lisbon Cathedral, was turned into a small chapel in the 15th century. This early building, from which nothing remains, was rebuilt in the early 16th century, during the reign of King Manuel I. The Lisbon Senate was located on a house just beside the chapel. A religious brotherhood (Irmandade de Santo António) dedicated to the saint was founded in the 16th century.
In 1730, under King John V, the church was rebuilt and redecorated. In the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake the Santo António Church was destroyed, with only the main chapel left standing. It was fully rebuilt after 1767 to a Baroque-Rococo design by architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira. This is the church that can be visited today.
Since 1755 a procession leaves the church every June 13, passes by Lisbon Cathedral and goes through the slopes of Alfama neighbourhood, located nearby. The 13th of June is Saint Anthony's "patron saint day" and occurs in the "Popular Saint Festivities" celebrated by Lisbon; during the morning special bread is given to the oldest women of each family.
On May 12, 1982, Pope John Paul II visited the church. He inaugurated a statue of Saint Anthony (by sculptor Soares Branco) in the square in front of the church and prayed in the crypt, which marks the spot where the saint was born.