Raphael of Brooklyn

Raphael of Brooklyn (Arabic: القديس رفائيل من بروكلين), born Rufāʾīl Hawāwīnī (Raphael Hawaweeny;[1] Arabic: رفائيل الهواويني; November 20, 1860 – February 27, 1915), was bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn, vicar of the Northern-American diocese, and head of the Antiochian Levantine Christian mission. He was the first Orthodox Christian bishop consecrated on American soil.[2]

Saint

Raphael of Brooklyn
Bishop of Brooklyn
Born(1860-11-20)November 20, 1860
Beirut, Ottoman Syria
Died February 27, 1915(1915-02-27) (aged 54)
Brooklyn, New York City
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
CanonizedMarch 2000 by Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast27 February (OCA), First Saturday in November (Antiochian)
PatronageAmerica

Life

He was born in modern-day Lebanon to Damascene Syrian (Antiochian Greek Christian) parents of the Antiochian Orthodox faith who had come to Beirut[3] fleeing the 1860 Syrian Civil War in Damascus.[4] He was first educated at the Damascus Patriarchal School that had become the leading Greek Orthodox institution of higher learning in the Levant under the leadership of Joseph of Damascus. He furthered his study of Christian theology at the Patriarchal Halki seminary in Constantinople, and at the Theological Academy in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Kyiv, Ukraine).

Archimandrite Raphael upon his arrival in America

Father Raphael was sent to New York City in 1895 by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia to administer the local Orthodox Christian community which then included mainly Russian, Greek, and Levantine immigrants.

In 1904, he became the first Orthodox bishop to be consecrated in North America; the consecration was performed in New York City by Archbishop Tikhon (Bellavin) and Bishop Innocent (Pustynsky). He served as Bishop of Brooklyn until his death.

During the course of his ministry as an auxiliary bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church in America, Raphael founded the present-day St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral (Brooklyn), established thirty parishes and assisted in the founding of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery.

Bishop Raphael founded the official magazine of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, The Word, in 1905 in Arabic (الكلمة).[5]

Glorification and honors

Bishop Raphael was originally buried in New York until August 1988, when his relics were translated to the Antiochian Village Camp in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, on property of the Antiochian Archdiocese, along with several other bishops and clergy.[6]

Raphael was glorified by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) in its March 2000 session. He is commemorated by the OCA on February 27, the anniversary of his death and by the Antiochian Orthodox Church on the first Saturday of November near the Synaxis of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and all the bodiless powers of heaven.

In 2015, the Antiochian Archdiocese, OCA and ROCOR celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the dormition of St. Raphael.[2]

He is commemorated on 14 February[7] and on 27 October - Synaxis of All Saints of Kiev Theological Academy and Kiev Theological Seminary in Ukrainian Orthodox Church.[8]

See also

References
  1. Issa J. Boullata (1995). The first one hundred years. p. 85. ISBN 9780962419027.
  2. "St. Raphael of Brooklyn + First Saturday in November - Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese". Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  3. "Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America". www.antiochian.org. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  4. Newman, Andy (November 5, 2015). "A Centennial Celebration for Brooklyn's Only Saint". The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  5. "The Word Magazine". antiochian.org. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  6. "Details of the Life of St. Raphael Hawaweeny". Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  7. "Православний календар - Київська Митрополія Української Православної Церкви" (in Ukrainian). July 18, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  8. "Православний календар - Київська Митрополія Української Православної Церкви" (in Ukrainian). July 18, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
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