BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT RAFAEL ARNIZ
BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT RAFAEL ARNIZ
His feast is celebrated on April 26
Rafael Arnaiz Barn was born on April 9, 1911 in Burgos, where he was also baptized, received confirmation and began his studies at the Jesuit Fathers College, receiving the Eucharist for the first time in 1919.
Gifted with a precocious intelligence, from early childhood he gave clear signs of his inclination to the things of God. In these years he received the first visit of what was to be his fate and his companion: the illness that forced him to interrupt his studies.
Recovered from her, his father, in gratitude for what he considered a special intervention of the Blessed Virgin, at the end of the summer of 1922 took him to Zaragoza, where he consecrated him to the Virgen del Pilar, a fact that did not fail to mark the spirit of Raphael.
His family moved to Oviedo, where he continued his secondary studies, enrolling at the Higher School of Architecture in Madrid when they finished.
With a brilliant intelligence, Rafael was endowed with outstanding qualities for friendship. As he grew in age and developed in his personality, he also grew in his spiritual experience of Christian living.
In his well disposed heart, God wanted to raise the invitation to a special consecration in the monastic life. Having made contact with the Cistercian monastery of San Isidro de Dueas – his Trapa of him – he felt strongly attracted by what he saw was the place that corresponded to his intimate desires. He entered there on January 15, 1934.
God mysteriously wanted to test him with a painful illness – diabetes mellitus – that forced him to leave the monastery three times, where he returned as many times for the sake of a generous and faithful response to what he felt was God’s call.
Sanctified in the joyful fidelity to the monastic life and in the loving acceptance of God’s plans, he consumed his life in the early hours of April 26, 1938, having just turned 27, being buried in the monastery cemetery.
Soon his reputation for holiness became unstoppable beyond the walls of the monastery. With the fragrance of his life, his numerous writings continue to spread with great acceptance and good for all who come in contact with him.
On August 20, 1989, John Paul II, on the occasion of the World Youth Day in Santiago de Compostela, proposed him as a model for young people, declaring him Blessed on September 27, 1992 for the joy of the Holy Church and a pledge of honor. thanks to all the people of God.
On October 11, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI canonized Rafael Arniz Barn. His feast is celebrated on April 26.
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