St. Rafqa, Lebanese Maronite Nun

[Charbel]

J.M.+J.T.

I'm a little late, but wanted to share about St. Rafqa for All Soul's Day. She is really beautiful, here's a biography about her:

1- Rafqa in Himlaya (Lebanon) (1832-1859)

St. Rafqa was born in Himlaya, one of the villages of northern Metn, on June 29, 1832. She was the only child to her parents Mourad Saber el-Chobok el-Rayess and Rafqa Gemayel.
 On July 7, 1832 she was baptized and christened Boutroussieh. Her parents taught her the love of God and daily praying.
 In 1839, when she was 7 years old, Rafqa lost her mother whom she dearly loved. Her father went through poverty, so he sent her to Damascus in 1843 to serve for four years at Assad Badawi's who was of Lebanese origin.
 Rafqa came back home in 1847, to find that her father had married another woman named Kafa. Rafqa was beautiful, pleasant, humorous, pure and tender with a serene voice. Her aunt wanted her to marry her son, while her stepmother wanted her to marry her brother, and the conflict emerged. Rafqa felt bad about this and chose to enter the monastic life.

2- Rafqa in the Congregation of St. Mary (1859-1871)

Rafqa asked God to help her achieve her desire, so she went to Our Lady of Deliverance monastery in Bikfaya, to become a nun, accompanied by two girls, whom she met on the road. When she entered the monastery church she felt deep joy and happiness. One look at Our Lady of Deliverance Icon and God's voice inviting her to devotion was strongly engraved in her: "You're becoming a nun." The Mother Superior accepted her without any interrogation, so she entered the monastery, and refused to go back home when her father and stepmother came to discourage her. Therefore Rafqa became a student, and on St. Joseph day on March 19, 1861, she wore the Initiation Robe. On March 19, 1862, Rafqa presented the monastic vows in the monastery of Ghazir. The new nun stayed with the nun Mary Gemayel, in Ghazir's clericalism, run by the Jesuits.
 The purpose was to teach the girls who wanted to enter the congregation of St. Mary. In addition to teaching, Rafqa was in charge of the kitchen service. Amongst the clergy, were Patriarch Elias Houwayek, Archbishop Boutros el-Zoghbi and others. While in Ghazir, she studied Arabic language, calligraphy and calculation. During her stay in Ghazir, and in 1860, Rafqa was sent to Deir el-Kamar, to teach youngsters catechism. And during the
 bloody events that took place in Lebanon back then, Rafqa saw with her own eyes many people getting killed. She was strong and courageous enough to hide a child under her robe and save him from death. Rafqa spent almost a year in Deir el-Kamar, then she went back to Ghazir passing by Beirut. In 1863, following the orders of her superiors, Rafqa went to the school of the monastic order in Byblos, where she spent more than a year, teaching girls education and faith. Early in 1864, she was transferred from Byblos to maad village, upon the request of the great benevolent Antoun Issa; There she spent seven years and established with another nun, a school to teach girls.

3- Rafqa in the Lebanese Maronite Order (1871-1914)

A- In the monastery of St. Simon el-Qarn in Aito:

While living in maad, and following a crisis in the Congregation of St. Mary in 1871, Rafqa entered St. George's church, and asked God for help, and she heard a voice calling her: "You're becoming a nun." Rafqa prayed, and saw in her dreams St. George, St. Simon, and St. Anthony the Great, father of the monks, who told her: "become a nun in the Lebanese Order." Mr. Antoun Issa made it easy for her to go from Maad to the monastery of St. Simon el-Qarn in Aito. She was immediately accepted, and wore the Initiation Robe on July 12, 1871, then presented her vows on August 25, 1872, and was named the nun Rafqa after her mother. In the monastery of St. Simon el-Qarn in Aito, Rafqa spent 26 years from 1871 to 1897. She was a role model to other nuns, recalling the regulations, praying, living in austerity, sacrificing and working in silence. On the first sunday of October 1885, she entered the convent church and began to pray, asking God to make her a part of his divine pains. God responded immediately, as the unbearable pains began in her head and moved to her eyes. All attempts to cure her failed. After that, it was decided to send her to Beirut to receive treatment, and she passed by St. John-Marc's church in Byblos, where an American doctor examined her. During the surgery, he accidentally pulled
 out her right eye. Then the disease hit the left eye, and the doctors considered the treatment useless. After all that, she returned to her monastery where she suffered from terrible pains in her eyes for 12 years. She remained patient, silent, praying in joy sharing the pains of Jesus.
B- In St. Joseph monastery al-Dahr in Jrabta:
 When the Lebanese Maronite Order decided to build the monastery of St. Joseph al-Dahr in Jrabta, Batroun in 1897, six nuns of St. Simon monastery were sent to the new one under the supervision of Mother Ursula Doumit from Maad. Rafqa was among them. In 1899, she lost the sight in her left eye and became blind. With this, a new stage of her suffering began. Rafqa lived the last phase of her life blind and crippled. Total blindness, unbearable pain in the sides and weakness in the body, only her face was spared and remained shining till the end. Her right hip and leg were disjointed, the bone of her shoulder altered its position, and the vertebra became so apparent. Only her hands stayed intact, she used them to knit socks and clothes. She always thanked God for sparing her hands, and always thanked him for making her a part of his divine pains. On March 23, 1914, Rafqa rested in peace, after a life of praying, service and suffering. She was counting on the Mother of God and St. Joseph. She was buried in the cemetery of the monastery. On July 10, 1927, her body was transferred to another shrine in the corner of the temple of the monastery, following the beginning of the case of her beatification on December 23, 1925, and the initiation of investigating her sainthood on May 16, 1926.
 Pope John Paul II declared her:
· Venerated on February 11, 1982
· Beatified on November 17, 1985
· Role model in the adoration of the Eucharist in the Jubilee year 2000
· Saint for the whole church in June 10, 2001

Websites about her: http://www.strafqa.org/

http://www.maronite-heritage.com/Saint%20Rafqa.php

http://www.strafqa.org/bio/biog3.htm

http://www.rafca.org/

http://www.ourladyoflebanon-ct.org/strafqa.html

Photo's:

"St. Rafqa in bed in her latter days"

"One particular day on the Feast of Corpus Christi she greatly desired to join her sisters in the chapel, but of course her infirmity made this impossible and she would have to be content with receiving the Eucharist afterward when the priest visited her. However, as the Liturgy began, Sister Rafka begged God for help. Her legs uncurled and she slipped off the bed, her body still mostly deadened, but she was able to crawl slowly and in much pain to the chapel. Despite this miracle, the paralysis returned in full force as soon as the Liturgy had ended." Read more here:http://ourladysmaronite.org/rafka

St. Rafqa is the top left in this photo

 

A movie was also made about her:

Hope everyone had a good feast! Prayers for all of you!

[CatherineM]

Wow. She must have had some kind of weird rheumatoid arthritis. It's so hard to visualize nuns from so long ago. Thanks. 

[Charbel]

A neat timeline of her life that goes into more detail of her sufferings:

RAFQA IN HIMLAYA (1832 - 1859)

1832 On June 29, Rafqa was born in Himlaya, on the day of Saints Peter and Paul. Her father is Mourad Saber from El-Khoury family known in Himlaya as El-Choboq family, descendant from El-Rayess family in Bikfaya. Her mother is Rafqa El-Gemayel from Bikfaya.

1832 On July 7, the priest Hanna El-Rayess baptized her in St. George's church in Himlaya, and was named Boutrousieh.

1839 Rafqa's mother died, when she was only 7 years old.

1843 She went to Damascus, and lived in Assaad Badawi's house (from Baabda), for four years. She helped his wife, Helen, in the chores. They treated her as one of their children. She was pious, honest, and pure.

1847 Rafqa came back home. Her father had remarried and had two daughters: Mary and Shmouni.

RAFQA IN THE CONGREGATION OF ST MARY (1859 - 1871)

1859 On May 4, she entered into the congregation of St Mary, which was established by the priest Youssef Gemayel (1824 - 1892), in cooperation with the Jesuits, in Our Lady of Delivrance's monastery in Bikfaya.

1860 She went to Deir El-Kamar to help the sisters of Saint Mary in teaching, and to help the Jesuits in Service and Mission. There, she hid a child under her robe and saved him from death, during the events of 1860.

1861 On March 19, she wore the Novice Robe.

1862 On March 19, on St Joseph's day, Rafqa pronounced the monastic vows in the monastery of Ghazir: obedience, chastity, poverty, and mission, according to the regulations of the congregation of St Mary.

1863 The superiors of the monastic Order sent her to a school related to the congregation in Byblos.

1864 She was transferred to Maad's village, upon the request of the great benevolent Mr. Antoun Issa, where she spent seven years in teaching and educating young girls.

1871 In Early July, she decided to leave the congregation of St Mary, after several efforts, to unite the latter and the congregation of the Sacred Heart in Zahleh, into one congregation named "The Congregation of the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary". The two congregations were united in 1875.

RAFQA IN THE LEBANESE MARONITE ORDER (1871 - 1914)

In Saint Simon monastery El-Qarn, Aito (1871 - 1897)

1871 In Early July, she entered Saint Simon El-Qarn monastery in Aito, with Antoun Issa, with the authorization of the superior, Abbot Afram Geagea from Bcharreh.

1872 On August 25, she pronounced the monastic vows: obedience, chastity, poverty, and modesty.

1877 She suffered unbearable pain from an abscess in her stomach.

1885 On the Sunday of the Great Rosary, she asked God to let her participate in the Passion of His beloved Son. The pain began in her head, then extended to her eyes and all over her body.

1889 She underwent treatments of doctors, throughout the year, in different places: -She lived for two months in El-Mina, Tripoli, in the Ountouch of Antonine monks. The doctor pierced her neck to lessen the swelling in her right eye; he, therefore, caused her bleeding which left a pus on her neck. -She went to Sereel and stayed for a week in the house of priest Mikhael Maroun who treated her, but she returned to the monastery without any result. -She went by Saint John-Marcus's Ountouch in Byblos on her way to Beirut; there, an American doctor deracinated her right eye, accidentally, while performing a surgery. He caused her severe bleeding. -She continued her way to Beirut and lived in the monastery of Lazarist Sisters for two months. There, the doctors were able to stop the bleeding in her eye. She went back to the monastery of St Simon, suffering a lot, yet she remained patient and joyous repeating: "In participation with Jesus' Passion."

In Saint Joseph's monastery Al-Dahr, Jrabta (1897 - 1914)

1897 On November 3, the Monastic Authority transferred her with five nuns from St Simon monastery to the monastery of St Joseph in Jrabta. Rafqa was one of the main founders of the monastery.

1899 Rafqa became blind. She suffered bleeding in her nose. She lost lots of weight.

1906 - 1911 The bones of Rafqa were dislocated. She suffered pain in her sides and toes. Her sides were dislocated, they entered into her body: the bone in her right shoulder pierced the skin and touched the neck; her vertebrae became so apparent, and she became a pile of bones. The Divine Providence spared her hands so she could knit; her mind so she could contemplate; her ears so she could listen; her tongue so she could chant and her stomach so she could eat.

1914 On March 20, her agony began, she was unable to talk, she looked with her heart and mind to the sky murmuring: "Oh! Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and myself; take my soul."

1914 On March 23, at dawn, it was Ash Monday, Rafqa rested in peace, after bidding the sisters farewell and acquiring the Blessed Sacrament. She earned her wreath of glory in heaven, after 29 years of bearing severe pain patiently and joyfully, participating in Christ's Passion with love, joy, and prayers.

1914 On March 24, around noon, after a humble funeral, she was buried in the cemetery of the nuns in the monastery of St Joseph, Jrabta.

1982 On February 11, the excellence of her virtues was declared and she was proved Venerable.

1985 On November 17, Pope John Paul II declared her Blessed.

2001 On June 10, Sunday of the Holy Trinity, Pope John Paul II declared her Saint for the whole church.

http://www.ourladyoflebanon-ct.org/strafqa.html

Edited November 6, 2015 by Charbel

[Charbel]

I can't believe I forgot until so late! Today is Saint Rafqa's feast day!

Here is another little bio on her:

St. Rafqa / Rafka (Arabic for Rebecca) (1832–1914) was born in Himlaya, a Maronite village in the Lebanese mountains. She was an only child; her mother died when she was seven. After her father's remarriage there was much family discord as to who Rafqa should marry. Not wanting to wed any of the men in question, she turned to God and entered religious life at the age of 21. She had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary which she learned from her mother. She studied and served as a teacher for many years, but, after witnessing and surviving a massacre of Christians, she decided at the age of 39 to become a cloistered contemplative nun living under a strict rule in a monastery. Here, Rafqa prayed earnestly that she might share in the sufferings of Christ. Her prayers were heard almost immediately. She became blind and paralyzed, and over the course of thirty years she struggled with deteriorating health and incredible pain. All her sufferings she united to the sufferings of Christ without complaint. Under obedience to her superior she worked on an autobiography near the end of her life. She died at the age of 82 and her grave is credited with many miracles. St. Rafqa is a Catholic Maronite saint canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 2001. She is the patron of sick people, bodily ills, and loss of parents. Her feast day is March 23rd. 

Here is a different link to the movie (broken in parts) since the other one was taken down:

Saint Rafqa's tomb

This is another really cool website commemorating her:

http://www.saintrafqa.ca/

Saint Rafqa, pray for us!