Cannonization

Pope (Saint) John Paul II declared Rafqa:


  • Venerable on February 11, 1982. 
  • Blessed on November 17, 1985. 
  • A role model in the adoration of the Eucharist for the Jubilee Year 2000.
  • Saint for the whole Church on June 10, 2001.

Canonization Of Five Blesseds
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Feast of the Blessed Trinity
10 June 2001


1. "Blessed be God the Father and his only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit: for great is his love for us" (Entrance Antiphon).

The entire liturgy is focused on the Trinitarian mystery, source of life for every believer, but especially today, on the feast of the Blessed Trinity.

"Glory to the Father, glory to the Son, glory to the Holy Spirit": every time we proclaim these words, the synthesis of our faith, we adore the only true God in three Persons. With amazement, we contemplate the mystery that completely surrounds us. Mystery of love, mystery of ineffable holiness.

“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of sabbaoth” we will sing in a little while, entering into the heart of the Eucharistic prayer. The Father created everything with his wisdom and loving providence; the Son redeemed us with his death and resurrection; the Holy Spirit sanctifies with the fullness of his gifts of grace and mercy.

We can correctly define today's solemnity as the feast of holiness. It is a perfect day for the ceremony of the canonization of the five Blesseds: Luigi Scrosoppi, Agostino Roscelli, Bernardo da Corleone, Teresa Eustochio Verzeri, Rafqa Pietra Choboq Al-Rayès.

6 . By canonizing Blessed Rafqa Choboq Al-Rayès, the Church sheds a very particular light on the mystery of love given and received for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. This nun, of the Lebanese Maronite Order, desired to love and to give her life for her people. In the sufferings, which never left her for 29 years of her life, Saint Rafqa always showed a passionate and generous love for the salvation of her brothers, drawing from her union with Christ, who died on the cross, the force to accept voluntarily and to love suffering, the authentic way of holiness.

May Saint Rafqa watch over those who know suffering, particularly over the peoples of the Middle East who must face a destructive and sterile spiral of violence. Through her intercession, let us ask the Lord to open hearts to the patient quest for new ways to peace and so hasten the advent of reconciliation and harmony.

7. "O Lord our God, how great is your name through all the earth" (Ps 8,2.10).
Contemplating these outstanding examples of holiness, the psalmist's exclamation comes spontaneously to mind.

The Lord does not stop giving to the Church and to the world wonderful examples of men and women who are reflections of the glory of the Trinity. Their witness incites us to raise our eyes to heaven and to seek without pause the kingdom of God and his justice.

May Mary, the Queen of all saints, who first heard the call of the Most High, uphold us in our service of God and neighbor. And may you go with us saints Luigi Scrosoppi, Agostino Roscelli, Bernardo da Corleone, Teresa Eustocchio Verzeri, Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, so that our lives like yours may give praise to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.