Servants of God Cyprien & Daphrose Rugamba
Martyrs (
7 April 1994 Anno Domini A.D.)
Cyprien & Daphrose Rugamba, a married couple active in the Catholic association called the Emmanuel Community, were assassinated in their home, along with 6 of their 10 children, during the Rwandan genocide. Cyprien was born in 1935 A.D., Daphrose in 1944 A.D. They came from the same parish 
As a young man, Cyprien entered the seminary, planning to become a priest
& worked as a poet 
& choreographer 
He & Daphrose were wed in 1965 A.D. 
but the union was difficulthttps://m.facebook.com/400225130037641/photos/a.400831203310367/400831323310355/?type=3
https://twitter.com/NoelKambanda/status/1114845221723021312
Cyprien 's infidelities led to the birth of a child out of wedlock, & he ridiculed his wife's Catholicism. Daphrose quietly continued in her faith, raising their 10 children in the Church. But in 1982 A.D., Cyprien suffered a life-threatening illness. He attributed his recovery to Daphrose's unceasing prayers 
& underwent a profound conversion & spiritual renewal. Their marriage, newly characterized by tenderness & respect, bore rich fruit.
Cyprien & Daphrose began to live a life of intense faith, centered in charismatic renewal circles & prayer groups. In 1989 A.D. the couple traveled to Paray-le-Monial , France 
the site of the Sacred Heart 
revelations to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th Century A.D. There they encountered the Emmanuel Community, a Catholic organization with an international presence, focused on discipleship & evangelization through prayer & acts of charity
Back home Cyprien & Daphrose initiated a weekly sharing group-known in the Community as a "household"-& in September 1990 A.D., the Emmanuel Community in Rwanda was born. The Rugambas were especially effective in the evangelization of married couples. They were known throughout Rwanda: Daphrose for her ministries to children & the sick 
; Cyprien for his poetry & championing of traditional art.
But the political climate in Rwanda by this time was marked by increasing tension between the country's 2 main ethnic groups, the Hutus & the Tutsis. Political extremists began to call for violence. Rwandans were required to state their ethnicity on identity cards 
In their work for the Emmanuel Community, the couple kept their doors open both to Hutus & Tutsis: "We have only one party, that of Jesus," Cyprien would say.
Moreover, Cyprien & Daphrose 's peacemaking 
efforts & Cyprien's public denunciation of racial hatred & division on radio broadcasts 
& elsewhere marked the couple out as targets. In April 1994 A.D., ethnic tensions rose to a boil. Members of the Hutu ethnic majority took up machetes 
clubs, & guns & turned on their minority Tutsi neighbors. An estimated million people were killed in the ensuing 100-day slaughter
Cyprien & Daphrose were assassinated, along with 6 of their 10 children, on 7 April 1994 A.D. the very first day of the genocide. The family had spent the previous night in Eucharistic adoration 
At the time of their death, the Emmanuel Community in Rwanda numbered 100. It is now the second largest Emmanuel Community in the world. The Rugambas's cause for canonization was opened in Kigali on September 18, 2015 A.D.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jubilezaveclemmanuel/21886362545/in/photostream/
Prayer for the beatification of the servants of God Cyprien and Daphrose Rugamba
Holy Father,
We pray for the beatification of the servants of God Cyprian and Daphrosa. Give us to always have, like them, an incessant zeal for adoration, a heart burning of love for you 
and an active compassion for all who suffer.
Help us to give ourselves freely for the evangelization of the families and the poor.
In communion with Cyprian and Daphrosa, we entrust to you especially couples who experience marital difficulties and people who are struggling to forgive their enemies, and we ask you to make us instruments of peace. Through the intercession of these Servants of God, we ask you, Lord, according to Your will, the grace of ………………………
(a prayer is expressed)
Lord, grant us peace and the grace that we ask in faith 🕊 Amen
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