Today, August 30, is the memorial of Blessed Maria Rafols.
Foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Anne.
Maria Rafols was born to a working class family in 1781 in Villafranca del Panedes, Spain. Her father Cristobal Rafols Cunillera and mother Margarita Bruna Brugol had 10 children, with Maria the sixth.
She received the sacrament of Confirmation from Barcelona’s Bishop Gabino Valladares of the Order of Carmelites (O.Carm.).
She finished her education in Barcelona and later joined 12 women under the direction of Venerable Juan Bonal. The small group served the sick, the mentally ill, the abandoned children, and the disabled. This became the beginning of the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne.
At the young age of 23, Maria became the mother superior. Her new position opened her to trials and challenges in their ministry, but her confidence in God never wavered.
During the Napoleonic wars, Maria worked in the bombed ruins to save the sick and the children. She bravely entered the enemy’s camp to ask the French general to help her with the marginalized people.
Maria was arrested during the Carlist War, imprisoned, and later released, She was suspected of opposing Queen Isabel II.
She died of natural causes in 1853 at the age of 72. She was beatified in 1994 by Pope St. John Paul II.