February 23
Rafaela Ybarra de Vilallonga (1843–1900)
Religious
Wife, mother and grandmother of a large family from Bilbao, Rafaela Ybarra simultaneously attended to her family duties and the needs of vulnerable women and girls.
Biography
She founded an asylum and gave rise to the Religious of the Guardian Angels to protect and educate young people exposed to abandonment and exploitation. With her husband's consent, she deepened her consecration to God without breaking the family unit. His life demonstrates that organized charity can spring from the home and extend its protection to those who lack it.
Practical advice
Protect a young person from a risk situation today: listen, inform the appropriate person and do not minimize the signs.
Example of
PrayerCharityConsecrated life