St. Rafael Arnáiz Barón

St Rafael Arnáiz Barón was born on April 9, 1911 in Burgos, Spain. St. Rafael’s family was a well-to-do Christian family. St. Rafael was the eldest of four children.

When St. Rafael was just a boy he had attended several schools run by Jesuits and his attraction to spiritual topics and to art was apparent from boyhood.

The abilities and talents he had were remarkably well balanced giving him an open, joyful attitude to the world, combined with good humor, respect and humility.

St. Rafael had many interruptions during his education these interruptions include fever and pleurisy. When St. Rafael had recovered from these issues his father took him to Zaragoza to consecrate him to Our Lady of the Pillar. This led to St. Rafael’s family having to move to Oviedo where he completed his secondary schooling.

During the year 1930, St. Rafael embarked on some architectural studies in Madrid. It was during this year that St. Rafael started to deepen his commitment to Christ.

During the summer after St. Rafael had completed his secondary schooling, he had gone to a house that was located near Avila, this home that he went to, belonged to his uncle and aunt, who were the Duke and Duchess of Maqueda.

St. Rafael’s aunt and uncle introduced St. Rafael to the Trappist Monastery of San Isidoro de Dueñas whose beauty and prayerful atmosphere attracted him.

St. Rafael was called up, however he was declared unfit for active duty. Therefore, St. Rafael made the decision to abandon his architectural studies that he was doing in Madrid and he made the decision to seek the mystery of the "Absolute" in this Cistercian Monastery of the Strict Observance. St. Rafael joined on January 16, 1934 and St. Rafael joyfully received his white habit. St. Rafael was 23 when he received the white habit.

St. Rafael said upon entering, that this decision he had made had not been prompted by suffering or disappointments but rather by God who, "in his infinite goodness" gave him far more in life than he deserved.

St. Rafael felt deeply attracted to the monastic rhythm of Gregorian chant and the Liturgy of the Hours. During his life St. Rafael had written many letters to his mother, St. Rafael’s mother collected all of his letter in a book. St. Rafael would also write letters to his uncle and aunt, and St. Rafael had a close relationship with them.

Four months after St. Rafael had entered the monastery, he had underwent a severe and strict Lent, after that lent he was smitten by a serious form of diabetes mellitus which forced him to go home for treatment.

During this time St. Rafael was thankful and able to go back and forth between his home and the monastery between the years; 1935 and 1937. St. Rafael would under go these trips during the height of the Spanish Civil War.

During St. Rafael’s final return to the monastery, he was made an oblate, and St. Rafael took the last place and living on the fringes of the community. During that time Canon law did not permit a person in his condition of poor health to take monastic vows.

St. Rafael died on April 26, 1938 in the monastery's infirmary after he had endured a final attack of the disease at only 27 years of age. St. Rafael was buried in the monastery cemetery and his remains were later brought to the Abbey Church.

Despite St. Rafael’s brief life, he embodied the Cistercian grace in a remarkably pure and outstanding way. From beginning to end of his life he let himself be led through a series of bewildering contradictions and illness, war, the inability to speak his vows, abnormal community relations until he totally renounced himself. During St. Rafael's life humiliation was his constant companion.

St. Rafael’s one desire was to live in order to love: to love Jesus, Mary, the Cross, his Trappist monastery. St. Rafael’s holy and kind reputation spread rapidly throughout Spain and his grave at San Isidro eventually became a place of pilgrimage where many miracles had occurred.

On August 19, 1989, during the World Youth Day that occurred in Santiago de Compostela. St. John Paul II proposed Bro. Rafael as a model for every single young person today, and beatified him on September 27, 1992, in Rome, Italy.

St. Rafael’s feast day is celebrated on April 26.

Prayer to St. Rafael

St. Rafael intercede that we may be able to follow God’s will regardless of how hard or how confusing it may be. St. Rafael help us to be able to balance our lives properly and help us to pray each and every day.

We ask this through Christ Our Lord and Mary Our Mother in Heaven

Amen

St. Rafael pray for us

St. Joseph pray for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

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Works cited:

Information (read from, not taken):

La Santa Sede. “St Rafael Arnáiz Barón. ”St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938) - Biography(vatican.va). Accessed 26 April 2021.

Images:

Rafael Arnáiz Barón. April 26, 2021. st. rafael arnaiz baron - Google Search.