Rafqa was a Lebanese Maronite nun who, through long years of blindness and paralysis, joyfully united her suffering with the Passion of Christ.
Life
Rafqa was born in 1832 in Himlaya, Lebanon. She lost her mother at a young age, and as a young woman she joined the Daughters of Mary, teaching catechism and reading to girls in various villages.
When that community merged with another, she discerned in prayer and entered the Lebanese Maronite Order to live a contemplative life. Around 1885, it is said, she prayed to share in the sufferings of Christ, and a serious illness followed; over time she became blind and paralyzed.
She accepted this suffering without complaint and lived in prayer until her death in 1914. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
Spirituality
Saint Rafqa’s spirituality is patience and gratitude in suffering. She did not run from pain but embraced it as a way of union with the cross of Christ, and through long years of illness she never lost her prayer or her peace. She shows that even suffering can be offered in love.
Reflection
Pain and illness that we cannot avoid come into our lives too. Like Saint Rafqa, could I offer my suffering to Christ instead of resenting it, and look for a small peace within it?