A Piedade não é piegas”

Padre Américo Monteiro de Aguiar: entre a autodiegese e uma “hagiografia incarnada”

Resumo

The present study aims to present some essential coordinates
for a preliminary approach to the concept and understanding of the phenomenon
of holiness in the writings of Padre Américo Monteiro de Aguiar (Penafiel,
October 23, 1887 - Porto, July 16, 1956). To this end, and in order to highlight
the “autodiegetic” dimension of the “hagiography” to which the title points, we
begin by presenting some considerations about the literary-theological corpus
in question, emphasizing its profoundly autobiographical character. In a second
and central moment of the study, the conceptual multiplicity around the sanctity that becomes evident from the analysis of the said writings is inspected. In this
context, the peculiar horizon of understanding that Padre Américo presents for the
analysis of such phenomenon and the multifaceted terminological construction
used by him to describe it gain evidence. Finally, the “exemplary” character that
certain embodiments acquire at the time of assimilate the respective dynamics and
processes of sanctity is presented. In conclusion, this view of sanctity evidenced by
the Author is combined with his (self )biography and with the hagiographic view
of other contemporary authors, pointing out, therefore, as many hypotheses of
comparative analyzes, equally enriching for the understanding both the concept
and the phenomenon of holiness in the 20th century.