SAINT RAFQA

St. Rafqa
Also known as Rafka, Rebecca, Pierina, or Boutrosiya
Feast day: March 23

Birth: 1832
Death: 1914
Beatified: November 16, 1985 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized: June 10, 2001, Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy by Pope John Paul II


Saint Rafqa, also know as Saint Rebecca, was born in Hemlaya, Lebanon on June 29, 1832. She was the only child of her parents, Saber El-Choboq El-Rayess and Rafqa Gemayel. She was baptized on July 7, 1832 and named Boutroussieh.


Rafqa was born in Himlaya, one of the villages of Northern Metn (Lebanon), on June 29, 1832.

She was the only child of Mourad Saber el-Choboq el Rayess and Rafqa Gemayel.
On July 7, 1832 she was baptized and named Boutroussieh. Her parents taught her the love of God and the practice of daily prayer. At age seven, she suffered her first great loss with the death of her mother.

In 1843, her father experienced financial difficulties and sent her into service for four years in the home of Assaad Badawi. Rafqa grew into a beautiful, pleasant, humorous young woman, pure and tender with a serene voice.

In 1841, she returned home to find that her father had remarried. His new wife wanted Rafqa to marry her brother. Conflict developed when her aunt sought to arrange a marriage between her son and Rafqa.


At this time, Rafqa felt drawn to the religious life. She asked God to help her achieve her desire and set off for the convent of Our Lady of Deliverance in Bikfaya, accompanied by two girls whom she met along the road.

When she entered the convent church, she felt deep joy and happiness. One look at the icon of Our Lady of Deliverance, and she heard God's voice confirming her desire to enter religious life.

Following a year of postulancy, Rafqa received the habit of her congregation on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 1861. A year later, she pronounced her first vows.

The new nun, along with sister Mary Gemayel, was assigned to work in the Jesuit-run seminary in Ghazir. Among the seminarians were Elias Houwayek and Boutros el-Zoghbi, later to become Partriarch and Archbishop, respectively.

Rafqa was in charge of kitchen service. In her free time she studied Arabic, calligraphy and mathematics and also helped to educate girls aspiring to join her congregation.

In 1860 Rafqa was sent to Deir el-Kamar to teach catechism. There she witnessed the bloody clashes that occurred in Lebanon during this period. On one occasion, she risked her own life by hiding a child under her robe and saving him from death.

After a year in Deir el-Kamar, Rafqa returned to Ghazir. In 1862, she was sent to teach in a school of her order in Byblos. One year later, she was transferred to Maad village. There, with another nun, she spent seven years establishing a new school for girls, made possible through the generosity of Antoun Issa.