María Rafols Bruna

María Rafols Bruna (5 November 1781 – 30 August 1853) was a Spanish Roman Catholic nun, mystic and the co-founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Anne that she established alongside the Catholic priest Juan Bonal Cortada. María Rafols dedicated her entire life to the care of the ill working in hospitals in Zaragoza and during times of war risked her life to aid others. Internal complications and a range of outside interferences saw María Rafols be appointed to and resign from various leadership positions and she was captured – though later released – during the Carlist War.

María Rafols was considered a saint after her death which led to the commencement of her canonization cause under Pope Pius XI on 6 August 1931 while being titled as Venerable under Pope John Paul II in 1991 who also beatified her on 16 October 1994 at Saint Peter's Square.

Life María Rafols Bruna was born in Barcelona on 5 November 1781 as the sixth of ten children to the middle-class Cristóbal Rafols Cunillera and Margarita Bruna Brugol. The apostolic process would span from 30 May 1932 until its closure on 21 May 1934. The Congregation of Rites later validated these previous processes on 26 June 1940.

The formal introduction to the cause came on 6 August 1931 under Pope Pius XI, granting Rafols the title of Servant of God.

In 1944 the cause was suspended under Pope Pius XII for unknown reasons though Pope John Paul II authorized the cause's resumption in 1980. The postulation was then able to submit the Positio to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1989 for their assessment and led to the approval of the cause from a team of theologians on 9 November 1990. The C.C.S. then met and approved the dossier's contents on 6 July 1991. John Paul II proclaimed her to be Venerable on 6 July 1991 after confirming that María Rafols had led a life of heroic virtue.

The miracle required for beatification was investigated in the diocese of its origin and received C.C.S. validation in Rome on 3 December 1992. A medical board approved the healing to be a miracle on 12 February 1993 while theologians likewise came to the same conclusion on 23 April 1993. The cardinal and bishop members of the C.C.S. followed suit on 22 June 1993 and passed it to the pope on 6 July 1993 for his final approval. John Paul II beatified Mother María Rafols in Saint Peter's Square on 16 October 1994.