Saint Rafqa

Life story

Boutrossieh Choboq Ar-Rayès was born on 29 June 1832 at Himlaya, in the Lebanese mountains, into a Maronite family. Her mother died when she was about seven, and the family fell into poverty. She worked as a domestic servant in households in Damascus for about four years and then returned home.

In 1855 she entered the Order of the Immaculate Conception, known as the Mariamites, and did teaching and other work for the order. When that order was dissolved in 1871 she joined the Lebanese Maronite Order and took the name Rafqa, meaning Rebecca. She spent many years in the monastery of St Simon at Aito.

Around 1885 she began to suffer an eye disease and gradually lost her sight. Later she also became paralysed and was in much pain. She moved with her sisters to the monastery of St Joseph at Jrabta, which she had helped to establish, and she stayed there until her death in 1914. The sisters who lived with her recalled that she bore her illness with patience.

Rafqa died on 23 March 1914. John Paul II beatified her in 1985 and canonised her on 10 June 2001. Her tomb at Jrabta is a place of pilgrimage for many Lebanese. Her feast is kept on 23 March. Her order, the Lebanese Maronite Order, continues to care for the monastery at Jrabta, and she is one of the best known saints of Lebanon together with Charbel Makhlouf.

Works and witness

• Worked as a servant in Damascus for about four years
• Entered the Mariamite order in 1855
• Joined the Lebanese Maronite Order in 1871
• Lost her sight and was paralysed for many years
• Canonised in 2001

Saints from the same country

Saint Charbel Makhlouf, Saint Nimatullah Kassab

References

• Martyrologium Romanum
• Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
• Acta Apostolicae Sedis

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.