Educated:
Patriarchal School, Damascus, Syria School of Orthodox Theology, Halki Island (1879-86)
Theological Academy, Kiev, Russia (1888-89)
Ordained:
Deacon, December 20, 1885, on Halki Island
Priest, June 16, 1889, in Kiev, Russia
Archimandrite, July 28, 1889, in Moscow, Russia
Bishop, February 29, 1904, in New York, by Abp. TIKHON and Bp. INNOCENT (Pustynskii), becoming the first Orthodox Christian hierarch consecrated in the New World.
Ministry:
Rector, Metochion of the Patriarchate of Antioch, Moscow, Russia (1889-92)
Extraordinary Instructor in the Arabic Language, Theological Academy, Kazan', Russia (1893-95)
Rector, St. Nicholas Church, Brooklyn, NY; simultaneously serving as Leader of the Syrian Orthodox Spiritual Mission in North America, traveling extensively in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, solidifying communities; serving as Censor of the Russian-language Russian Orthodox American Messenger (November 14, 1895-November 28, 1904)
Bishop of Brooklyn (1904-15), overseeing founding and development of twenty-nine parishes; simultaneously serving as Second Vicar of the Diocese of the Aleutian Islands and North America (1904-15); Administrator of the entire Diocese (1909)
Benefactor of St. Tikhon's Monastery, South Canaan, PA, and St. Platon's Theological Seminary, Tenafly, NJ
Vice-President, Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Union (1910-12)
Writings:
al-Kalimat [The Word] (Edited: 1905-15)An Historical view of the errors of the Papal Church (Arabic)
A Brief history of the Christian Church (Arabic)
A Refutation of the Proclamation of Pope Leo XIII (Arabic)The Funeral service for children (translated into Arabic)
A Guide to the services of the Consecration and Dedication of a church (translated into Arabic)
The Kontakarion (translated into Arabic)
The Great Euchologion (translated into Arabic)
The Small Euchologion (translated into Arabic)
Fr. Raphael, a missionary at heart, went to the imperial capital of St. Petersburg to meet with His Grace, Nicholas, ruling bishop of the Russian Diocese of the Aleutian Islands and North America, who was then in Russia to recruit new missionaries. After being canonically received under the omophorion of Bishop NICHOLAS, Father Hawaweeny arrived in the United States on November 17, 1895.
Upon his arrival in New York, Archimandrite Raphael established a parish at 77 Washington Street in lower Manhattan, at the center of the Syrian immigrant community. By 1900, approximately 3,000 of these immigrants had moved across the East River, shifting the community center to Brooklyn. Accordingly, in 1902, the parish purchased a larger church building in that borough, at 301-303 Pacific Street. The Church, assigned to the heavenly patronage of St. Nicholas, the Wonderworker of Myra in Lycia, was renovated for Orthodox worship and consecrated on October 27, 1902, by NICHOLAS' successor, Archbishop TIKHON . St. Nicholas Cathedral later relocated to 355 State Street, Brooklyn, and is today considered the "mother parish" of the Archdiocese.
At the request of Archbishop TIKHON, Hawaweeny was elected to serve as his vicar bishop, to head the Syro-Arabian Mission. His consecration as "Bishop of Brooklyn" took place at St. Nicholas Church on Pacific Street on March 12, 1904. Bishop RAPHAEL thus became the first Orthodox bishop of any nationality to be consecrated in North America. He crisscrossed the United States and Canada, and even ventured deep into Mexico, visiting his scattered flock and gathering them into parish communities. He founded al-Kalimat [The Word] magazine in 1905, and published many liturgical books in Arabic for use in his parishes, in the Middle East, and in emigration around the world. After a brief but very fruitful ministry, Bishop RAPHAEL fell asleep in Christ on February 27, 1915, at the age of fifty-four.
