BIRTHPLACE & CHILDHOOD
Saint Rafqa was born in Himlaya, Mount Lebanon on June 29, 1832. She was the only child to her Maronite Catholic parents Mourad Saber el-Chobok el-Rayess and Rafqa Gemayel. On July 7, 1832, she was baptized and christened Boutroussieh (a girl version for the name Peter). Her parents taught her the love of God and daily praying.
In 1839, when she was 7 years old, Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) lost her mother whom she dearly loved. Her father went through poverty, so he sent her to Damascus, Syria in 1843 to work for Assad Badawi’s who was of Lebanese origin for four years. Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) came back home in 1847, to find that her father had remarried another woman named Kafa.
Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) was beautiful, pleasant, humorous and pure with a serene voice. Her aunt wanted her to marry her son while her stepmother wanted her to marry her brother and therefore a conflict emerged. Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) felt bad about this situation and she prayed to God and she chose to enter the monastic life instead of the married life.
She was strong and courageous enough to hide a child under her robe and save him from death (as seen in the image on the right).
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.
OUR LADY OF DELIVERANCE MONASTERY
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.
LEBANESE MARONITE ORDER
(1871-1914)
1) Monastery of St Simon El-Qarn in Aito, North Lebanon:
While living in Maad, Mount Lebanon and following a crisis in the Congregation of St Mary in 1871, Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) entered St George’s church and asked God for help, and she heard a voice calling her: “You’re becoming a nun.” While Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) was praying she saw a vision of St George, St Simon, and St. Anthony the Great, father of the monks, who told her: “become a nun in the Lebanese Maronite Order.”
After this vision, Mr. Antoun Issa made it easy for Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) to leave and transferred her from Maad, Mount Lebanon to the monastery of St Simon el-Qarn in Aito, North Lebanon. She was immediately accepted and wore the Initiation Robe on July 12, 1871, and was presented her vows on August 25, 1872, and was named Nun Rafqa after her mother.
Nun Rafqa spent 26 years in the monastery of St Simon el-Qarn in Aito, North Lebanon between 1871 to 1897. She was a role model for other nuns by recalling the regulations, praying, living in austerity, sacrificing and working in silence.
of October 1885, she entered the convent church and began to pray On the first Sunday asking God to make her a part of his divine pains. God responded immediately, and gave her unbearable pains in her head and moved to her eyes. All attempts to cure her failed and the superior nun decided to send her to Beirut, Lebanon to receive treatment. As Nun Rafqa was passing by St John-Marc’s church in Byblos, Mount Lebanon she noticed an American doctor and she told him to examine her.
During the examination, the American doctor accidentally pulled out her right eye and the disease quickly spread to her left eye resulting in the examination being a failure. Nun Rafqa returned to her monastery where she suffered from terrible pains in her eyes for 12 years and remained patient, silent, praying in joy and sharing her pains with Jesus.
St Joseph monastery Al-Dahr in Jrabta, Mount Lebanon:
When the Lebanese Maronite Order decided to build the monastery of St Joseph al-Dahr in Jrabta, Mount Lebanon in 1897, six nuns of St Simon el-Qarn monastery in Aito, North Lebanon were sent to the new monastery under the supervision of Mother Ursula Doumit from Maad, Mount Lebanon. Nun Rafqa was among the six nuns who were instructed to help establish the new monastery.
In 1899, Nun Rafqa lost sight in her left eye and became blind, entering a new stage of her suffering. Nun Rafqa lived the last phase of her life in total blindness, unbearable pain in her sides and weakness in her body. Also, her right hip and leg were disjointed, the bone of her shoulder had altered its position and the vertebra became very apparent.
With only Nun Rafqa’s face remaining bright and radiant and her hands still intact, she was able to knit socks and clothes and always thanked God for sparing her hands and making her a part of his divine pains.
On March 23, 1914, Rafqa rested in peace, living a life of pray, service, and suffering, counting on the Mother of God and St Joseph to protect and guide her thoughts and actions during her life on earth. She was buried in the cemetery of the monastery.
On July 10, 1927, her body was transferred to another shrine in the monastery, which was the beginning of her case of her beatification on December 23, 1925, and her initial investigation of her sainthood on May 16, 1926.
On June 9, 1984, the eve of Pentecost, in the presence of the Pope John Paul II, the decree approving the miracle of Elizabeth Ennakl, who was said to have been completely cured of uterine cancer in 1938 at the tomb of Rafqa was announced.
BEATIFICATION & CANONISATION
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 on June 10, 2001.
-
Feast day is celebrated on March 23.
BIRTHPLACE & CHILDHOOD
Saint Rafqa was born in Himlaya, Mount Lebanon on June 29, 1832. She was the only child to her Maronite Catholic parents Mourad Saber el-Chobok el-Rayess and Rafqa Gemayel. On July 7, 1832, she was baptized and christened Boutroussieh (a girl version for the name Peter). Her parents taught her the love of God and daily praying.
In 1839, when she was 7 years old, Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) lost her mother whom she dearly loved. Her father went through poverty, so he sent her to Damascus, Syria in 1843 to work for Assad Badawi’s who was of Lebanese origin for four years. Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) came back home in 1847, to find that her father had remarried another woman named Kafa.
Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) was beautiful, pleasant, humorous and pure with a serene voice. Her aunt wanted her to marry her son while her stepmother wanted her to marry her brother and therefore a conflict emerged. Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) felt bad about this situation and she prayed to God and she chose to enter the monastic life instead of the married life.
She was strong and courageous enough to hide a child under her robe and save him from death (as seen in the image on the right).
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.
OUR LADY OF DELIVERANCE MONASTERY
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.
LEBANESE MARONITE ORDER
(1871-1914)
1) Monastery of St Simon El-Qarn in Aito, North Lebanon:
While living in Maad, Mount Lebanon and following a crisis in the Congregation of St Mary in 1871, Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) entered St George’s church and asked God for help, and she heard a voice calling her: “You’re becoming a nun.” While Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) was praying she saw a vision of St George, St Simon, and St. Anthony the Great, father of the monks, who told her: “become a nun in the Lebanese Maronite Order.”
After this vision, Mr. Antoun Issa made it easy for Boutroussieh (St Rafqa) to leave and transferred her from Maad, Mount Lebanon to the monastery of St Simon el-Qarn in Aito, North Lebanon. She was immediately accepted and wore the Initiation Robe on July 12, 1871, and was presented her vows on August 25, 1872, and was named Nun Rafqa after her mother.
Nun Rafqa spent 26 years in the monastery of St Simon el-Qarn in Aito, North Lebanon between 1871 to 1897. She was a role model for other nuns by recalling the regulations, praying, living in austerity, sacrificing and working in silence.
of October 1885, she entered the convent church and began to pray On the first Sunday asking God to make her a part of his divine pains. God responded immediately, and gave her unbearable pains in her head and moved to her eyes. All attempts to cure her failed and the superior nun decided to send her to Beirut, Lebanon to receive treatment. As Nun Rafqa was passing by St John-Marc’s church in Byblos, Mount Lebanon she noticed an American doctor and she told him to examine her.
During the examination, the American doctor accidentally pulled out her right eye and the disease quickly spread to her left eye resulting in the examination being a failure. Nun Rafqa returned to her monastery where she suffered from terrible pains in her eyes for 12 years and remained patient, silent, praying in joy and sharing her pains with Jesus.
St Joseph monastery Al-Dahr in Jrabta, Mount Lebanon:
When the Lebanese Maronite Order decided to build the monastery of St Joseph al-Dahr in Jrabta, Mount Lebanon in 1897, six nuns of St Simon el-Qarn monastery in Aito, North Lebanon were sent to the new monastery under the supervision of Mother Ursula Doumit from Maad, Mount Lebanon. Nun Rafqa was among the six nuns who were instructed to help establish the new monastery.
In 1899, Nun Rafqa lost sight in her left eye and became blind, entering a new stage of her suffering. Nun Rafqa lived the last phase of her life in total blindness, unbearable pain in her sides and weakness in her body. Also, her right hip and leg were disjointed, the bone of her shoulder had altered its position and the vertebra became very apparent.
With only Nun Rafqa’s face remaining bright and radiant and her hands still intact, she was able to knit socks and clothes and always thanked God for sparing her hands and making her a part of his divine pains.
On March 23, 1914, Rafqa rested in peace, living a life of pray, service, and suffering, counting on the Mother of God and St Joseph to protect and guide her thoughts and actions during her life on earth. She was buried in the cemetery of the monastery.
On July 10, 1927, her body was transferred to another shrine in the monastery, which was the beginning of her case of her beatification on December 23, 1925, and her initial investigation of her sainthood on May 16, 1926.
On June 9, 1984, the eve of Pentecost, in the presence of the Pope John Paul II, the decree approving the miracle of Elizabeth Ennakl, who was said to have been completely cured of uterine cancer in 1938 at the tomb of Rafqa was announced.
BEATIFICATION & CANONIZATION
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 on June 10, 2001.
-
Feast day is celebrated on March 23.
