Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911–1938) was a young Spanish architecture student who left a comfortable life to enter the Trappist monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas. Severe diabetes forced him to leave the monastery several times, yet he kept returning, finally living there humbly as an oblate. He died on April 26, 1938, at just twenty-seven, and was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
Rafael shows us that a short life marked by illness can still be radiant with love for God. He could not control his sickness, but he offered it with trust, writing that God alone was enough for him. His quiet perseverance is a gentle companion for anyone who suffers young or watches someone they love suffer.
Saint Rafael, friend of the young and the sick, teach us to trust God in weakness as you did, and keep those we love close to His heart. Amen.Enter today’s Mass → All saints →