Our Patron Saint

Raphaela Maria Porras y Ayllon was born into a committed Christian family in Pedro Abad, near Córdoba in the south of Spain on the 1st of March 1850.

Her father was the mayor of her village and she and her sister used to help him to visit the people of the village and bring them food and medicine. Raphaela developed a very deep friendship with Jesus. She understood even as a little girl that Jesus present in the Eucharist is the most precious gift on earth and that in every Mass Jesus is offering everyone the gift of life in all its fullness. She felt so grateful to Jesus that she decided to spend her life loving him, serving him in other people, and helping others to know and love him.

In 1875 she entered the Novitiate of the Society of Mary Reparatrice, together with her sister Pilar. The time spent there made a deep impression on their lives and was a preparation for God's plan over them.

Generously open to this design of God, they welcomed it with love and fidelity, and in 1877 they founded the Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Very soon many others joined her. Their mission was to love Jesus in the Eucharist and to help others to know and love him too. While she was guiding the Institute, she based her government on love and respect for the Sisters, and on faithfulness to the mission received. Then, during the long years of hidden life in Rome, identified with Christ on the cross, she passed on the living spirit of her total gift of self, a genuine Handmaid of the Lord: free, humble, valiant, dedicated.