The Collected Works
Arnaiz, Saint Rafael
Saint Rafael Arnaiz was born in Burgos, Spain, on April 9, 1911. When he was twenty-one years old, he left behind the comforts of his wealthy family and an unfinished degree in architecture to join the Trappist-Cistercian abbey of San Isidro de Dueñas. A sudden onset of diabetes and the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) turned his monastic journey into an unusual one. In these unfavorable circumstances and despite the shortness of...