Background
Rafaela Ybarra de Vilallonga was born in Bilbao in northern Spain in 1843 in an affluent Catholic family.
Rafaela Ybarra de Vilallonga was born in Bilbao in northern Spain in 1843 in an affluent Catholic family.
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1984 and is currently undergoing the canonization process. As Bilbao was being transformed by a speedy yet chaotic industrialization process, she set up homes for working-class children and teenage girls as well as workshops for their training. She promoted a number of institutions for the welfare of women across the city.
Since her mission was similar in nature to that of the Guardian Angels (Ángeles Custodios in Spanish), she took that name for her new foundation - which in 2011 had 35 homes scattered across Spain and America.
On August 2, 1897, she placed the foundation stone of the Colegio Ángeles Custodios in Zabalbide (Bilbao), which was officially opened on March 24, 1899. lieutenant was the first house of the Congregation and the referent for the ones that followed.
Blessed Rafaela Ybarra died on February 23, 1900, before her novel Congregation had been fully established. Rafaela Ybarra de Vilallonga was beatified on September 30, 1984, in Rome by Pope John Paul II
Her liturgical feast is celebrated on February 23.
From Rafela Ybarra de Vilallonga:
« Never tire of doing good ».
« Be strong in purpose yet gentle in the means ».
Quotations:
From Rafela Ybarra de Vilallonga:
« Never tire of doing good ».
« Be strong in purpose yet gentle in the means ».