Saint Rebecca Pierrette Ar-Rayes: also known as Saint Rafka, was born in Lebanon in 1832. She entered the convent at an early age, the result of family strife and the death of her mother at age seven. She spent the last seventeen years of her life in immense pain and suffering but equated it with great happiness. She passed away on March 23rd, 1914, was beatified in November 1985, and canonized in June 2001 by Pope John Paul II.
Saint Rebecca is the patron saint of lost parents and of the sick. Starting in 1885 she endured intense pain in her eyes and brow, eventually going blind. Still in pain, she suffered bleeding from the eye sockets and frequent nosebleeds. By 1907 she was almost completely paralyzed but often managed to crawl to the monastery’s chapel to pray, a feat thought impossible. In spite of the pain, Saint Rebecca never complained. Her feast Day is March 23rd.
