CHARBEL

RAFQA

LEBANESE MARONITE SAINT

MARONITE LEBANESE HERITAGE CENTRE

MARONITE EPARCHY OF AUSTRALIA

SYDNEY 2005

SAINT RAFQA

We are happy to present this biography of
SAINT RAFQA

on the occasion of the visi to the Maronite Eparchy of Australia of the relics of the three Maronite Lebanese Saints.
This is the first time, in the history of the Maronite Church, that the Saints’ relics have departed Lebanon’s shores.
Under the slogan of our Bishop and Pastor, Ad Abikaram, “New Horizons for New Times”,
the Relics Visit provides a unique opportunity for every family and every Maronite,
young and old, to better know aronite spirituality through the life and works of the Saints.
May all of us accept this invitation to renew our faith,
and our connection with our Maronite heritage and culture.

CHAPTER ONE
Predestined
I chose you before you were born

        On the day of June 29, 1832, in the tiny village of Hemlaya in Northern Lebanon, Mrad Saber El-Shabq (El-Rayes) and his wife, Rafqa El-Gemayel, had special reason to be thankful. It was on this day that the Lord had blessed their household with a beautiful baby girl, who would be their only child. A week later, on 7 July 1832, the baby girl was baptized with the name of Pierrette (Boutersyeye) by the parish priest, Father John El-Rayes at the Church of Saint George.

        Pierrette’s parents were upright and pious and instilled the love of God in their little girl, placing her under the protection of the Virgin Mary. At the tender age of three, Pierrette had already learned not only to make the Sign of the Cross, but could also recite the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary. When attending church with her parents, she would imitate her mother by kneeling straight up, beating her chest, kissing the ground and raising her arms in the form of a cross.

        Little Pierrette flourished in the love and care of her mother who taught her how to be compassionate and affectionate. However, in 1839 the Lord called Pierrette’s mother to Himself, and the little girl, who was only seven years old, became motherless. Soon after the death of her mother, Pierrette and her father experienced a series of hardships, which began when, in 1839, Mohammed Ali Basha of Egypt attacked Lebanon and neighbouring Syria. His son, Ibrahim, burnt the village of Beit Shabaab. As a result, the majority of the inhabitants of this village as well as those within the surrounding ones, including the one in which Pierrette and her father lived, fled. Those who remained could not earn a living and became very poor.

        Pierrette’s father was a friend of the Assad Badawy family of Baabda. Therefore, in order to assist his friend, Assad Badawy took ten year old Pierrette to his house in Damascus where she helped Mrs Assad with the household chores. She lived here for the next four years, gaining admiration and respect from all for her great sense of responsibility, willingness to sacrifice and excellence in domestic work.

CHAPTER TWO
A voice in Pierrette’s soul
… come follow Me

In 1847, when Pierrette reached the age of 14, her father Mrad El-Rayes brought her back to their home in Hemlaya. When Pierrette returned home, she discovered that her father had remarried a woman named Kafa, who had two daughters of her own – Mariam and Shmouny. At first, like most other young girls, Pierrette was shocked and saddened by her father’s remarriage. However, in time she learned to accept her stepmother and began treating her as though she were her own mother.

In the coming years, Pierrette began blossoming into a beautiful young maiden. She had a melodious voice and a pleasing personality, her most attractive feature being her big, dark eyes. Furthermore, her physical beauty was greatly enhanced by her many virtues – among them piety, obedience and meekness. She had a yearning for religious devotion and welcomed solitude so that she could engage in silent prayer. During this period, she frequently visited Father Joseph El Gemayel who was the founder of the Daughters of Mary (Mariamites) and also the pastor of Our Lady of Deliverance in nearby Bikfaya. She so impressed him with her deep-rooted virtues and spirituality that he gave her the name, ‘The Lily of Hemlaya’.

Because of her youth and striking beauty, Pierrette began attracting the attention of suitors. Among the first to think about marriage were her stepmother and her aunt (her father’s sister). Her stepmother wanted Pierrette to marry her brother, and her aunt wanted Pierrette for her son. But she refused both of them. This created enmity between her stepmother and aunt, and one day, when she was returning with water from the spring, Pierrette heard angry and hateful words exchanged between them. Feeling that she was the cause of the ill-feeling, Pierrette became sorrowful and decided to join the religious life at one of the many convents in the area. Unfortunately, Pierrette would experience many obstacles in realizing her wish to enter a convent. Foremost among these were the objections of her father and stepmother as well as her lack of education. This was a trial for the young girl who would have to learn to overcome her emotions and selfish feelings.

CHAPTER THREE
Across the threshold

Finally, she was accepted by the Convent in Bikfaya - not as a novice but as a lay student and helper in domestic chores. In her own words, Pierrette explains how she begged the Mother Superior to accept her. “I went immediately after the quarrel to the Convent of Our Lady of Deliverance at Bikfaya. On the way, I met three girls to whom I said: ‘I am going to join the religious order at the Convent of our Lady of Deliverance. Would you like to go with me?’ Two answered positively, but the third one said: ‘When I see that you have become nuns, then I will join.’ The three of us went to the Convent. When I entered the church at the Convent, I felt an inner joy and happiness and when I looked at the picture of our Lady, I heard her voice echoing inside my conscience saying:
‘You will become a nun.’ I asked to see the Mother Superior. When she came, I begged her, as did the others, to accept us in the convent. The Mother Superior told me: ‘You are welcome,’ and she took my hand and led me into the convent without asking me any questions. She looked at the other two girls and told them: ‘Come back at a later date and you will be accepted.’ They congratulated me by saying, ‘Good luck, you have been accepted into the convent.’ I was amazed at the speed with which the Mother Superior accepted my request without any questions. I attributed this to the picture of Our Lady of Deliverance which I saw in the church.”

The Mariamite religious order, into which Pierrette had been accepted as a lay student, had been formed to teach young girls basic language skills, reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as catechism. The religious candidates, therefore, needed to be educated before they could join the order. Those who had not acquired an education were sent to Ghazir to learn the basics under the Jesuits who were in charge of the schools at Ghazir. This is where, on the Feast of St Maron, 9 February 1855, Pierrette commenced her novitiate and chose the name Agnes (Anissa). It was a period of trial which would determine whether she would be accepted or rejected in the Order.

Pierrette began her journey of following Christ by liberating herself from everything that did not belong to God. She emptied herself of any self-serving desire. Christ filled the emptiness and became the essence of her life. His love dominated her feelings and helped her overcome her self-seeking desires and conquer her worldly urges. She would repeat with St Paul: “the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me” (Galatians 2:20).

CHAPTER FOUR
Her mission begins

        In 1860, Pierrette was sent with another nun and the Jesuit priests to Deir El-Qamar, to teach catechism. During this time there were bloody clashes taking place in the region and she witnessed the Druze massacre of Christians. One day, she was passing through a village and saw some soldiers chasing after a young child in order to slaughter him. When the child saw her, he ran toward her and she hid him in the folds of her habit, thus saving him from the barbaric cruelty of the soldiers.
        Sister Pierrette spent her novitiate year at Ghazir from 19 March 1861 to 19 March 1862. She took her vows of obedience, purity and poverty on the feast of Saint Joseph, with the other novices, Lucia El-Deerany, Paulina El-Nabry and Wardeh Feheem El-Gemayel. Her spiritual marriage with Christ took place at the church school in Ghazir. At the time, she was 30 years of age.

        When she offered her body and soul to God, she realized that she had become a living holy sacrifice offered to the Almighty with the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. She understood that the vow of obedience is an unconditional Yes to God’s plan of Redemption and that God chooses a certain group of people to live within the circle of a religious community. She also understood that when a nun takes the vow of obedience, she is giving up her most precious assets, namely, her liberty and free will. In addition, she gives her entire self, as Christ did, in order to fulfill the will of His Father.

        Furthermore, she understood that poverty is not only the emptiness of the heart and the hand from the love of money and worldly goods, but rather, fulfillment from God. It is to follow Christ freely to Calvary, after drinking the cup of deprivation and denial. After professing her religious vows, Sister Pierrette began teaching the young girls in three of the Mariamite Order’s schools. The first school she taught at was the Krantina School, where she replaced Mother Dorothy who had left to establish a school for girls in the village of Baskinta.

        In 1863, Pierrette moved from Krantina to Jbeil. In her life story as told to her Mother Superior, Ursula Doumit, she says, “Obedience sent me to the school in Jbeil; I stayed there for a year teaching the young girls.” Helen Sfeir, one of her students, states in an affidavit given on 21 December 1925, “Sister (Pierrette) was a nun in our order, the Mariamite, which is now called the Order of the Sacred Hearts. She stayed in Jbeil to teach the young girls. I was, before I joined the Order, one of her students. She was a pious and virtuous nun. She continually performed her religious duties while she was teaching at the school in Jbeil. She had an excellent reputation.”

CHAPTER FIVE
The witness extends itself

Subsequently, Sister Pierrette left Jbeil and went to Ma’ad to establish a new school for young girls. This was done at the request of Mr Anthony Issa, a prominent citizen. Mr Issa asked for Pierrette by name because he had heard of her excellent reputation, which had spread in a very short time to the communities around Jbeil. Sister Pierrette stayed in Ma’ad for seven years, as a missionary and teacher. Her mission was a great success. In an affidavit, one of her students, Nasreen, states, “She taught us by her angelic example more than by her words… She always repeated to us, ‘Understand well that Christ Himself is present at the Altar when the priest utters the words of Consecration’… We were very attached to her and waited impatiently for the next day to go back to school and be with her. I will never forget her. She left a lasting impression in my life. She gave me the best lesson in meekness and love. She showed the others and me the right way to love God.”

In 1871, there was a plan to combine the Mariamite Order and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart into one, as the new Order of the Two Sacred Hearts. At that time, the nuns in the former orders were given the choice to either join the new order or return to civilian life with a dispensation from their minor and temporary vows. The third choice they were given was to join another religious order. While Sister Pierrette’s only desire was to pursue a religious life where she could perfect her spiritual union with Christ, she had to face the prospect of joining a religious order whose future was unknown. As was her custom, she turned to God. She related her turbulent emotions to her Mother Superior, Ursula Doumit, in the following words.

“When I learned that some of the nuns had abandoned the religious order, I became very sad, perplexed and worried about the future. I turned to God for guidance. One day I entered Saint George’s church in the village of Ma’ad to pray. I was weeping and sighing and asking God to direct me in the right direction. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in the church, with my head resting in my hands. I felt, during my sleep, a hand tapping me on the shoulder and I heard a voice echoing inside me telling me, ‘You will become a nun.’ I awoke and looked around the inside and outside the church but could not see anyone.

“I got up and headed toward the school. On my way, I met Mr Antoun Issa. He noticed that I had been crying and asked me the reason. I replied by telling him, ‘You know what happened to the Jesuits. The only thing left for me is to join the Lebanese Maronite Order.’ He replied: ‘Why don’t you stay with us, teach the young girls and I will provide you with a tranquil place to live and enough money for a comfortable life.’ I declined his offer and thanked him saying, ‘I prefer to join this Order more than anything else.’ When Mr Issa realized my determination, he said, ‘I will facilitate the way for you to join the Order. I will also pay for your expenses.’ I thanked him for his generosity.”

In 1874, the Order of Mariamites and the Order of the Sacred Heart were combined into The Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Three years before the combining of these orders, Sister Pierrette moved from the Mariamite Order to the Lebanese Maronite Order. She decided in 1871 to go to the Convent at Saint Simon to join the monastic life. Sister Pierrette had lived 18 years in the Mariamite Order. She had spent half of these years in service and the other half in teaching young girls.

CHAPTER SIX
The Dream

While she was still at Ma’ad, Sister Pierrette had a dream which calmed the storms within her during the period before the union of the two religious orders. She described her dream as follows. “I saw in my dream three men: First, a monk with a white beard and a cane in his hand. Second, a man dressed in soldier’s uniform, and third, an old man. The monk approached and poked me with his cane saying, ‘Join the Baladite Order’ (Lebanese Maronite Order). He took a few steps and poked me again saying, ‘Join the Baladite Order.’ I woke up and was full of happiness.

The next morning I went to see Mr Issa. As soon as he saw me, he asked, ‘You look happy; how are you today?’ I replied positively and told him about my dream. He told me that the monk was Saint Anthony the Great, and the soldier was Saint George, after whom the Church at Ma’ad was named. I told him I wanted to leave immediately to Saint Simon Al-Qarn. He tried to convince me to stay another year at Ma’ad, but I told him, ‘God is calling me now.’ Mr Issa was very helpful. He paid my expenses and gave me a letter to Bishop Joseph Frayer who in turn wrote me a letter of recommendation to Father Ephraim Geagea, the Superior General of the Lebanese Maronite Order. He included in his letter: ‘A meek lamb is coming to you. Take care of her.’ When I entered the convent church and saw the picture of Saint Simon (Stylite), I recognized him as the old man I saw in my dream.”

When she joined the Lebanese Maronite Order in 1871 at age 39, Sister Pierrette took the name Rafqa as her new religious name. This was the name of her late mother. Whereas the novice in the Mariamite Order had prepared for missionary work in the first year by teaching young girls and serving others, the novice in the Lebanese Maronite Order prepared herself by practising self-denial and leaving everything and following Christ, carrying His cross and joining Him in the work of salvation. This monastic life with its severe rules was much more difficult than the missionary life. In 1872, Sister Rafqa professed her vows in the Lebanese Maronite Order and took the angelic habit on 25 August 1872 at the hands of Father Ephraim Al-Bcherany, the Superior General.

Saint Simon’s Convent, where Sister Rafqa lived, was situated on a high altitude where the weather became very harsh in winter. The nuns followed a very rigid daily schedule throughout the year. In order to practise sacrifice, some of the nuns wore goat-hair clothing next to their skin to fight against the sins of the flesh. Prayers and manual labour became the rule of their daily lives. The nuns planted and harvested vegetables and grain in the surrounding fields. They also cultivated silkworms and sewed vestments for churches.

According to an affidavit by Sr Abadat El-Ahad Saade who spent 15 years with Sister Rafqa at Saint Simon, “She had a pure heart and was always serene and sensitive… She excelled all the others in her conduct… If one of the sisters would complain about the food, she would tell her, ‘My sister, we are the nuns of Saint Anthony, we are to follow his eremitic example and we should not complain.’… She had a simple bed consisting of a board covered with a thin mattress and a blue sheet similar to all the other nuns. She was the first to rise, at four o’clock in the morning, and was always the first to arrive at the church… She would always say, ‘We must open our ears to the words of the Gospel and the sayings of the Saints, and close them afterwards to prevent these words from escaping. These words should play in our heads’.”

During her fourteen years at Saint Simon Al-Qarn (1871-85), Sister Rafqa enjoyed good health. This enabled her to perform the numerous domestic chores at the convent. While she imitated Christ in her missionary work as well as the monastic life at Saint Simon Al-Qarn, she longed to imitate Him by carrying the cross of pain and suffering on the way to Calvary. Thinking about her good health, she would say, “Do you want me, my Lord, to love You without suffering?” She wanted to replace her health with suffering so that she could join Christ in His. She offered Him her body and asked for pain. She prayed to God, “Why, O my God, have you distanced Yourself from me and abandoned me. You have never visited me with sickness. Have you perhaps forgotten me?” While most people would consider good health as a grace from God, Sister Rafqa viewed it as abandonment by God. It was the logical conclusion of years and years of prayer, reflection at the foot of the Cross and a never-ending journey on the way to perfection.

CHAPTER SEVEN
On the day I called, You answered

In October 1855, God responded to her prayer. After the first Sunday of that month, Sister Rafqa felt a sharp pain spreading above her eyes like a hot flame. Eventually, after twelve years of constant affliction, this pain blinded her. Blindness deprived Sister Rafqa of her most precious desire – the reading of spiritual books and lives of the Saints. It also made her a burden to her sisters by making her dependent on them for help with all her physical needs. Yet for the next 29 years, Sister Rafqa endured her condition without complaint. She said, “Since I requested pain and suffering freely and willingly, I have no right to complain.” Her affliction caused her right eye to swell up and almost come out of her socket, while the left eye became inflamed and misted. Her most attractive physical feature was now horribly disfigured. When the pain became unbearable, she would repeat “For the glory of God, with the Passion of Christ, with the Crown of Thorns that pierced Your Head, my Lord.”

Mother Superior, Zyaret Al-Ghostaweyat, wanted to offer Sister Rafqa any possible medical help available. At Tripoli, where she was sent for medical examination, the doctor poked a long needle in her lower neck and it pierced through and the blood began gushing out. Even though she experienced excruciating pain, Sister Rafqa kept repeating, “In communion with Your suffering, Jesus. Glory be to God.” When the nun who accompanied her wept at her suffering, Sister Rafqa said, “It is I who am suffering, why are you crying? Do not cry. I accept the pain for the glory of God, in communion with Christ’s Passion”.

To leave nothing untried, Sister Rafqa was then sent to Beirut. The American doctor who examined her recommended the removal of the infected eye. Sister Rafqa refused to be anaesthetised for the operation. The doctor made her sit down and pushed a long scalpel into her eye and pulled it toward himself so that the eye popped out. A flow of blood gushed forth but Sister Rafqa only said, “In communion with Christ’s Passion”. As if the doctor had done her a great favour, she thanked him saying, “May God preserve your hands. May God reward you.”

Because of the harshness of the weather, many of the nuns developed arthritis. Moreover, the smoke from the green wood that they burned for fuel infected their eyes with diseases. In 1897, after spending 16 yeas at Saint Simon Al-Qarn, Sister Rafqa was ordered to move to a new monastery named Saint Joseph’s at Jrebata along with five other nuns. Two years after this move, Sister Rafqa became completely blind. However, she continued to participate in the daily choral prayers and to spin wood and cotton and knit stockings for the other sisters.

CHAPTER EIGHT
Love is stronger than death

        In addition to her afflicted eyes, Sister Rafqa experienced debilitating nosebleeds that left her completely drained of energy and reduced her to skin and bones. Then the pain began spreading to the rest of her body and, in the end, completely paralyzed her, except for her speech, hearing and brain. As a result of her afflictions, Sister Rafqa was forced to sleep on her side. One day, while making her bed, one of the sisters noticed that her right hip had become dislocated and the tip of the femur had pierced her skin. Also, her left collarbone had slipped and sunk in her neck. Despite these conditions, she maintained a serene smile on her face. Thus she endured the last 29 years of her life. Despite her intense pain, she would say, “No matter how much I suffer, Christ suffered more. My head is not crowned with thorns as was my Lord’s. I do not have nails in my hands and feet, as in His Hands and Feet. I atone for my sins where He suffered and died for me. My shoulder does not carry a heavy Cross like His. The lance did not wound my side as it wounded Jesus.”

        On the Feast of Corpus Christi, Sister Rafqa asked her Mother Superior if she could attend Mass. The Mother Superior summoned two sisters to try to carry her to church, but they could not do so. Therefore, the Mother Superior told Sister Rafqa that the priest would bring communion to her at the end of Mass. However, during the Mass, to the amazement of all present, Sister Rafqa entered the church crawling. When Mother Superior asked her how she managed to come to church she replied, “I don’t know, I asked God to help me and suddenly, I felt myself slipping from by bed with my legs hanging down. I fell on the floor and crawled to church.”

        On one occasion, Mother Superior asked Sister Rafqa if she would like to see. She responded, “I would like to see for at least one hour to be able to look at you.” Mother Superior noticed a smile on Sister Rafqa’s face and suddenly Rafqa said, “Look, I can see now.” Somewhat skeptical, Mother Superior tested her by asking her to identify several objects, which she did. Sister Rafqa then fell into a deep sleep.When she woke up, she explained that she had entered a large, beautifully decorated building with baths full of water and people crowding to enter them. She too, entered them. When Mother Superior asked her why she came back, she replied, “You called me and I came.” This illustrates Sister Rafqa’s obedience to her Superior.

CHAPTER NINE
Come possess the Kingdom prepared for you

On the dawn of 23 March 1914, Sister Rafqa asked to receive Holy Communion. As long as she had breath, she kept repeating, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul.” When she could no longer speak, she gave a sign to receive the final Absolution and the Plenary Indulgence. Four minutes later, at the age of 82, Sister Rafqa’s soul was taken up to Heaven. She was buried in the monastery cemetery.

On 10 July 1927, her body was transferred to a shrine in the corner of the monastery chapel. The case for her beatification was introduced on 23 December 1925, and the canonical investigation of her life began on 16 May 1926. She was declared Venerable on 11 February 1982, and Pope John Paul II beatified her on 17 November 1985. She was canonised by the same Holy Father on 10 June 2001, the first year of the third Christian millennium.

CHAPTER TEN
Miracles Attributed to St Rafqa

Two of the miracles that the medical and Ecclesiastical committees verified beyond any doubt, and upon which the Congregation for the Causes of Saints based its approval for her beatification and canonisation, are as follows.

A Cure for Cancer

This miracle took place in March 1938. Elizabeth Naghli Al-Bethawy from Tourza, North Lebanon, aged 36, had been afflicted with severe pain in her lower stomach for a long time. After undergoing extensive tests, she was diagnosed as being in the advanced stages of uterine cancer. She was sent home to die in peace. While on the way home, she asked to be diverted to the tomb of Saint Rafqa, whose intercession she sought. When Elizabeth began to approach the convent where Saint Rafqa’s body was kept, she began to improve. When she reached the convent, Elizabeth spent one night there. She fell into a deep sleep in front of the statue of Saint Rafqa. The next morning she woke up strong and cured.

In October 1984, 17-month-old Saleen Sami Rbayes of Beirut had slept for 24 continuous hours without food or drink. The next day she was rushed to the hospital and for the next six months suffered internal bleeding. Tests revealed that she suffered from a disease in her left kidney. The internal bleeding and swelling increased to the point where Saleen was in danger of dying. She underwent an operation on 17 September 1985. When the doctors removed her left kidney, they discovered that it was cancerous. Despite treatment, the cancer spread to her pancreas and her health deteriorated rapidly to the point that the doctors did not give her more than 24 hours to live. In November 1985, Saleen’s grandmother, Yvette Daaw, read an article about Blessed Rafqa and asked her neighbour, Bernadette Kababy Ibrahim, to bring her back some dirt from Blessed Rafqa’s tomb. On 23 November 1985, Saleen’s mother, Raymonda Daaw, and her grandmother, Yvette, added the dirt to some pudding and fed it to Saleen. An hour later, Saleen regained complete health.

Visit the Website: www.strafqa.org