Saint Rafael Arnaiz Barón

Rafael Arnáiz Barón, OCSO (9 April 1911 – 26 April 1938), also named María Rafael in religion, was a Spanish Trappist conventual oblate. He studied architecture in Madrid, but decided to cease his studies in favor of the religious life. This was often interrupted due to his struggle with type 1 diabetes and his being called for active military service. But these never hindered his religious call and he did as best as he could to deal with his diabetes through his constant life of reflection and writing on spiritual subjects in his letters. He was beatified on 27 September 1992 by Pope John Paul II and was canonized a saint of the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI on 11 October 2009. Rafael Arnáiz Barón was born on 9 April 1911 in Burgos as the first of four sons to Rafael Arnáiz (an engineer) and Mercedes Barón (newspaper columnists); his siblings after him were Rafael, Fernando, Leopoldo, and Mercedes. His baptism was celebrated on 21 April 1911 and he was named as "Rafael Arturo Alvaro José de la Immaculada Concepción i San Luis Gonzaga". He made his First Communion in Burgos on 25 October 1919. In his childhood he went to several schools that the Jesuits ran and from October 1920 to 1922 was at one such college in Burgos where he was noted for his artistic talents; several bouts of fever often interrupted his studies. In his adolescence it was clear that he had a range of intellectual and artistic gifts as well as those of the spiritual nature. These qualities were well-balanced in him and it produced an open and positive attitude to people and things which was characterized with exuberant good humor and respect. In 1923 his parents relocated to Oviedo and he accompanied them so that he could attend the Jesuit college of San Ignacio where he graduated in 1929. On 26 April 1930 he began his architectural studies in Madrid though suspended it for a brief period of time in December 1930 after he had a bacterial infection.