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 I diabetes and his being called for active 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.
Biography
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. His mother - in April 1921 - took him to his maternal grandmother in Madrid to recover and he was there for a month. Once he recovered his father took him to Zaragoza in August 1921 to a church for him to be consecrated to the Mother of God.
Once he graduated from high school in 1930 he sought a deeper commitment to Jesus Christ which began in 1930. As a graduation present, he spent his summer vacation with his uncle Leopoldo and his aunt María who were the Duke and Duchess of Maqueda at their residence near Ávila. It marked the beginning of a deep and lasting friendship among them. At their encouragement he made his first contact that September with the Trappists of San Isidro de Dueñas in Palencia. He was attracted to the silence and was attracted to the Gregorian chant such as the Salve Regina that was sung at Compline. On 15 April 1934 - having finished his architectural studies he entered the order as a postulant and then became a novice; he was convinced that this was his true religious calling.
He suffered from a severe case of type I diabetes mellitus which developed four months after his entering the convent and was diagnosed on 26 May 1934. The saddened and perplexed novice was forced to rest at home for a few months before returning, which he did three successive times from 1935 through 1937 at the height of the Spanish Civil War (one occasion was from 29 September to 6 December 1936 and again from 7 February to 15 December 1937). He was called into the armed forces but was declared unfit for active service. On his final return to the convent - due to his medical condition - he was obliged to enter as a conventual oblate instead of as a monk, taking a lower place and living on the margins of the order; this circumstance revealed his intense vocational commitment. He received the habit on 17 April 1938 prior to his death and between December 1937 to April 1938 he had written 33 letters.
Death
On 22 April 1938, he suffered a high fever and became delirious at times due to that ailment; he saw his father for the last time on 21 April. He died from type I diabetes complications on 26 April 1938. His remains were relocated in 1965 and for the final time on 13 November 1972 into a small chapel. Pope John Paul II, on 19 August 1989 at World Youth Day in Santiago de Compostela, proposed him as a model for adolescents.
Spirituality
He embodied the order's charism and grace in a pure and intense manner and allowed himself to be led through a series of bewildering contradictions and perplexities such as sickness and war as well as him being unable to pronounce his vows – he renounced himself and his self-will.