April 26: Rafael Arnáiz Barón

“God Alone”

This was the motto of Rafael Arnáiz Barón: “God alone”. And also: “From the love of God comes everything.” He was a young man who placed the Lord first and made Him the reason for his short life.

Born on April 9, 1911, in Burgos, into a well-off and deeply Christian family, he began his studies at the Jesuit College in his city. During that school period, he developed the infectious disease of colibacillosis, which caused persistent fevers and forced him to interrupt his studies.

Once he recovered, in thanksgiving to the Lord, toward the end of the summer of 1921, his father took him to Zaragoza to consecrate him to the Virgin of the Pilar. This consecration marked his life forever.

The following year, the family moved to Oviedo, where he continued his secondary education at the Jesuit College of St. Ignatius, obtaining his diploma on April 15, 1930. On April 26 of that same year, he was admitted to the School of Architecture in Madrid. Gifted with remarkable intelligence, he felt God’s call to follow Him more closely. On September 26, 1930, he made his first stay at the Trappist monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas, where he was moved by the monks’ way of life.

In February 1931, he enrolled in nocturnal Eucharistic adoration in Oviedo. On September 17, 1932, he moved permanently to Madrid to pursue his architectural studies. From January 25 to July 26, 1933, he completed his compulsory military service in the army engineers corps. On January 15, 1934, he entered the novitiate at the monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas, but after only four months, he had to return home due to the onset of diabetes. On January 11, 1936, he returned to the monastery as an oblate, since because of his illness he could not complete the novitiate or take religious vows.

On September 29, 1936, at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he was called to arms, but on December 6 he was declared unfit for service due to illness. On February 7, 1937, given the difficult situation caused by the war, the Trappist superiors sent him home again for better care. On December 15 of the same year, he returned permanently to the monastery.

He entrusted himself completely to God in accepting His will, often praying: “Take me and give Yourself to the world.” He died at only 27 years old on April 26, 1938, and was buried in the monastery cemetery.

Soon his reputation for holiness spread beyond the monastery walls, also thanks to the circulation of his writings. On August 19, 1989, during the Fourth World Youth Day in Santiago de Compostela, Pope John Paul II proposed him as a model for young people.

He was beatified on September 27, 1992, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 27, 2009.