Hierarch20th century

Raphael of Brooklyn

1860 – 1915

Also known as Raphael Hawaweeny

Antiochian bishop who shepherded Arabic-speaking Orthodox in America.

February 27New Calendar

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March 12Old Calendar

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Commemorated as

Our Father among the Saints Raphael (Hawaweeny), Bishop of Brooklyn

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Missionary Work

Life

Raphael of Brooklyn (Raphael Hawaweeny) was an Antiochian hierarch who organized and shepherded the Arabic-speaking Orthodox of North America, and who in 1904 became the first Orthodox bishop to be consecrated on American soil. Born in 1860 to a Damascene family that had fled to Beirut, he was educated in Damascus, at the Halki School of Theology in Constantinople, and at the Theological Academy in Kiev, before serving in the Russian Orthodox Church and being sent to the United States in 1895. He reposed in Brooklyn in 1915 and is commemorated on February 27, the day of his repose.

Known by the title 'Good Shepherd of the Lost Sheep in America,' Raphael gathered a scattered immigrant flock into organized parish life. From his arrival in New York he travelled widely across the continent, visiting more than thirty cities, founding parishes, and ministering to the Syro-Arab faithful as well as to Greeks and Russians, whom he is said to have addressed in their own languages. At his death his Syro-Arab Mission comprised some thirty parishes serving roughly twenty-five thousand faithful.

Raphael was glorified by the Orthodox Church in America in 2000, in a process carried out jointly with the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, the two jurisdictions he had bridged in life. Besides his February 27 commemoration, he is honored among the Saints of North America.

Timeline8 momentsReadHide

1860Born in BeirutBorn to a Damascene family that had fled the persecution of Christians in Damascus.
1879Tonsured a monkTonsured by Patriarch Hierotheus, then sent to study at Halki.
1889Ordained priestLater raised archimandrite and set over the Antiochian representation church in Moscow.
1895Sent to AmericaArrived in New York to serve Arabic-speaking Orthodox immigrants.
1904Consecrated Bishop of BrooklynThe first Orthodox bishop consecrated on American soil, by Archbishop Tikhon and Bishop Innocent.
1905Founded The Word magazineBegan al-Kalimat (The Word); also consecrated the grounds of Saint Tikhon's Monastery.
1915Repose in BrooklynReposed February 27; his mission then numbered some thirty parishes and 25,000 faithful.
2000GlorificationGlorified by the Orthodox Church in America together with the Antiochian Archdiocese.

Contributions & Legacy

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Early Life and Formation

Raphael Hawaweeny was born in 1860, the son of Michael Hawaweeny and Mariam, a Damascus priest's daughter. The family was Damascene, but had fled the persecution of Christians in Damascus for the relative safety of Beirut, where Raphael was born. He was baptized on January 6, 1861 with the name Rafla.

He received his early schooling in Damascus and, in 1874, was helped into the Patriarchate's school to prepare for the priesthood. He was tonsured a monk on March 28, 1879 by Patriarch Hierotheus, then sent on scholarship to the Halki School of Theology in Constantinople, where he was ordained deacon in December 1885 and received his Certificate of Theology in 1886. He afterward studied at the Theological Academy in Kiev in the Russian Empire.

Ministry in Russia and Call to America

Ordained priest in 1889, Raphael was raised to the rank of archimandrite and served as head of the Antiochian representation church in Moscow. His years in Russia connected him to the Russian Church, which then held canonical oversight of Orthodoxy in North America.

In 1895 he was sent to New York to serve the Orthodox immigrants of the New World, arriving on November 2 of that year. He soon established a Saint Nicholas chapel in lower Manhattan as a center for the Arabic-speaking faithful.

Bishop of Brooklyn

From 1896 onward Raphael made extensive pastoral tours across North America, visiting more than thirty cities and gathering immigrant communities into organized parishes; in 1901 he established a parish cemetery at Mt. Olivet on Long Island, and in 1902 acquired a church on Pacific Street in Brooklyn. Elected Bishop of Brooklyn by the Russian Holy Synod in 1903, he was consecrated on the third Sunday of Great Lent in 1904 at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn by Archbishop Tikhon and Bishop Innocent — the first Orthodox episcopal consecration to take place on American soil.

As bishop he continued to travel constantly among his far-flung parishes, helped establish Saint Tikhon's Monastery (whose grounds he consecrated in 1905), and encouraged the use of English in services and education alongside the Arabic ministry to his own people. In 1905 he founded the magazine al-Kalimat (The Word), which carried much of his own writing and which continues to be published. He fell seriously ill and reposed in Brooklyn in the early hours of February 27, 1915 (February 14 on the old calendar).

Influence in America

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The roughly thirty parishes St. Raphael founded across the continent grew into today's Antiochian Archdiocese, and churches from coast to coast now bear his own name.

St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral

Cathedral · Brooklyn, New York

Founded by St. Raphael — begun as a Manhattan chapel in 1895 and moved to Pacific Street in Brooklyn in 1902 — and designated his cathedral when he was consecrated Bishop of Brooklyn in 1904.

Antiochian Village

Shrine · Ligonier, Pennsylvania

The Antiochian Archdiocese's camp and heritage center holds St. Raphael's relics, translated from New York in 1988 and moved into St. Ignatius Church on the grounds in 2024; an annual pilgrimage honors him there.

St. Raphael of Brooklyn Orthodox Church

Church · Thousand Palms, California

An Antiochian parish that in spring 2000 became the first church in the world granted St. Raphael as its patron, two months before his glorification.

St. Raphael of Brooklyn Church

Church · Inverness, Florida

An Orthodox Church in America parish of the Diocese of the South, founded in 2002 and named for the first Orthodox bishop consecrated in the New World.

St. Raphael Clergy Brotherhood

Society

The clergy brotherhood of the Antiochian Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America, named in honor of the bishop whose missionary labors planted many of that diocese's early parishes.

Works & Further ReadingReadHide

Notable Works

Sermons and Homilies — Preached throughout his North American missionary travels
Pastoral Letters — Guidance to clergy and faithful of the Syrian mission
Articles in Al-Kalimat (The Word) — The first Arabic-language Orthodox periodical in North America, which he founded and edited, the centerpiece of his literary legacy
Translations — Arabic and English liturgical and theological texts
Catechetical and Instructional Writings — Short works explaining Orthodox belief and practice
Official Correspondence — Letters on diocesan administration and missionary strategy