Rafael Arnáiz Barón
Rafael Arnáiz Barón (born April 9, 1911 in Burgos , Spain , † April 26, 1938 in Palencia ) was a Spanish Trappist and mystic and is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church .
Life
Rafael Arnáiz Barón came from a wealthy Spanish noble family. At his baptism on April 21, 1911 he was named Rafael Arturo Alvaro José de la Inmaculada Concepción y San Luis Gonzaga.
From 1920 to 1922 he attended the Jesuit college La Merced in Burgos as an external student . When his family moved to Oviedo , he moved to the Jesuit college of San Ignacio there in 1923, where he graduated from high school in 1929. In 1930 he began studying architecture at the Technical University of Madrid. In September of this year he visited the Trappist Abbey of San Isidro de Dueñas in Palencia for the first time . From January 25 to July 26, 1933 he did military service and entered the Trappist novitiate on January 15, 1934 .
On May 26, 1934 he had to leave the monastery again due to illness, he suffered from diabetes mellitus ; on January 11, 1936, he returned, not as a novice , but as an oblate , as he was unable to cope with the harsh living conditions of the profession monks for health reasons.
However, he could only stay in the monastery for about eight months, as he was called up for military service in the Spanish Civil War . From September 29 to December 6, 1936, he therefore left the abbey again . After a few months he was found unfit and was able to return to the Trappists. The diabetes broke out again after his return, so that he had to leave the monastery for the third time on February 7, 1937.
In his diary he wrote:
“This is the third time that I have taken off my religious robes and put on secular clothes ... The first time I thought I was dying of grief ... I believed God had left me. The second time I went because of the war ... I liked to go ... I went on vacation ... The new thing that the war brought with it, the curiosity, a few days of relaxation from penance seemed good to me ... I knew that I would return to the monastery would be difficult ... I realized that God was testing me. The third time - this is now - I see God's hand so clearly that I don't care, because suffering is the only 'currency' that will one day have value. [...] Now I am aware that God does not abandon or test me, but loves. "
On December 15, 1937, he finally returned to the monastery hospital ward. In the months to come, his health deteriorated. On April 17, 1938, his abbot awarded him the kukulle , the robe of the monks with solemn profession, in honor of him .
From April 22, 1938, Brother Rafael suffered from a high fever and was temporarily delirious . During these days he wrote in his diary: “Do not hesitate, Lord, your servant Rafael is in a hurry to be with you, to see Mary ... What a glorious profession I will make on the day of my death! Eternal vows of love forever ... always! "
The blessed died on April 26th after a short, severe agony. He was first buried in the monastery cemetery. In the course of the beatification process , his bones were transferred to a grave in the west wing of the cloister in 1965 . Since 1972 his final resting place has been in a chapel in the abbey church.
His letters, notes and diary entries testify to a simple, childlike, intimate and unconditional love for God as well as a shocking determination to follow the cross.
In 1960 the process of beatification for the Trappist brother, who died in the reputation of holiness, was initiated by the abbot of the monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas. In 1989, at the World Youth Day in Santiago de Compostela , Pope John Paul II declared Brother Rafael to be a role model in following Christ.
Brother Rafael was beatified in Rome by Pope John Paul II on September 27, 1992 . On February 21, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI. the decree on the canonization of Brother Rafael. The canonization took place on October 11, 2009 in St. Peter's Basilica . The feast day of Brother Rafael in the liturgy is April 26th.
literature
- Ingrid Mohr (Ed.): Only guest on earth? Rafael Arnáiz Barón. Mystic and monk. First German complete edition of his writings. Bernardus-Verlag, Langwaden 1996, ISBN 3-910-08237-8 .
- Ingrid Mohr (Ed.): If I had a thousand lives. Rafael Arnáiz Barón - student, artist, monk and mystic. Bernardus-Verlag, Langwaden 2006, ISBN 3-8107-9419-8 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Rafael Arnáiz Barón in the catalog of the German National Library
- Trappist monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas in Palencia
- Rafael Arnáiz Barón in the Biographia Cisterciensis
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ingrid Mohr (Ed.): Only guest on earth? Rafael Arnáiz Barón. Mystic and monk. First German complete edition of his writings. Bernardus Publishing House. Langwaden, 1996, pp. 503.505.
- ↑ Ibid. P. 20.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Arnáiz Barón, Rafael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish Trappist and mystic |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 9, 1911 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Burgos , Spain |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 26, 1938 |
| Place of death | Palencia , Spain |