Hagiography encompasses narratives that recount the lives of saints or their vitae. Typically, such texts include the deeds and miracles associated with the saint, the conditions of their death (Lat. passio or passion) and martyrdom. Arguably, the most important hagiographic collection is the Legenda aurea (Golden Legend) of Jacobus de Voragine in the 13th century. Modern critical hagiography began in the 17th-century in Flanders with the Jesuit ecclesiastic Jean Bolland and his successors, who now are known as Bollandists.
Saint Sharbel Makhlūf – July 24
Jousef Antoun Makhlouf was born in the village of Bekaa Kafra, North Lebanon. The youngest of five children, he was baptized into the Maronite Rite of the Catholic Church. The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in the West Syriac Antiochene Tradition, in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. In Worcester, there is a Maronite parish known as Our Lady of Mercy. The Maronites are one of 22 autonomous, or self-governing, churches, which form the Catholic Church. While remaining in communion with the Pope, each of those Catholic churches has its own hierarchy and clergy, generally headed by a patriarch or metropolitan, and constitute separate ecclesiastical jurisdictions, called eparchies (or dioceses) headed by an eparch (bishop). Maronites affirm the teachings of Roman Catholicism and recognize the Pope as the head of the Church. However, they have the freedom to practice their own unique rite, which is distinct from the Roman or Latin Rite.
From a young age, Joursef, this future saint, lived a holy and devout life. Two of his uncles were hermits, and he was inspired by their example. He was especially devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and set up a shrine to her in a nearby cave his home. From an early age, he knew God was calling him to the priesthood and the monastic life, especially to live as a hermit. In 1851, at the age of twenty-three, Jousef left his family, never to return, and entered the Monastery of Our Lady in Mayfouq.
As a newly professed monk, Jousef took the name Sharbel, after Saint Charbel, a second century military officer who was martyred in Antioch during a persecution by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. As a monk, Brother Sharbel longed to be a hermit and made the request to his superiors many times. For the first twenty-four years of his religious life, his superiors required that he live in community with the other monks. He was first transferred to the Monastery of Saint Maroun in Annaya where he professed his vows, was then sent to the Monastery of Saints Cyprian and Justina where he studied theology and philosophy, was ordained a priest in 1859 at the age of thirty-one, and returned to the Monastery of Saint Maroun where he remained for the next sixteen years. Though some monks lived as hermits, that vocation was reserved for those who proved themselves capable of such solitude and asceticism. In 1875, at the age of forty-seven, Father Sharbel was given permission to enter the Hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul to live as a hermit. In 1898, at the age of seventy, Brother Sharbel suffered a stroke while offering Mass and died eight days later on Christmas Eve.
Though Saint Sharbel lived a life of extraordinary holiness, it wasn’t until after his death that his holiness became well-known beyond the walls of the monastery. After his burial, light was seen shining forth from his grave. This phenomenon drew the attention of many villagers who braved the cold and snow to see this mysterious light. He was canonized 9 October 1977 by St. Pope Paul VI.
Nature and dignity 