Cyprien and Dalphrosa - Servants of God from Rawanda - Martyrs in Christ

I just found out about another "married couple" up for Sainthood. Their names are Cyprien (Sipiriyani) and Dalphrosa (Daforoza) from Rawanda and here's their story. 

They were both born in the village of Cyanika in southern Rwanda, he was born in 1935 and she in 1944. So, they are War World II babies or aftermath. 

In his youth Cyprien thought studied in the seminary - but changed his mind and studied other things like history and poetry, etc. God was leading him to someone else. He even was in ballet and founded the National Ballet inviting all Rawadians to become apart of this. His future wife Dalphrosa was a schoolteacher. He actually had a first love that was a cousin of hers, but the cousin died in a massacre event. So, Cyprien married Dalphrosa instead. 

They did not have a happy start of their married life. In fact Cyprien, gave Dalphrosa back to her family for a brief time. This was considered a major insult in the Rawandian culture. Cyprien was unfaithful and had a child out of wedlock. However, he and Dalphrosa ended up getting back together and having a big family. Dalphrosa willingingly adopted the child out of wedlock as her own! 

Cyprien had a disdain for Dalphrosa's Catholic Faith. He was an athiest during the early married life. Dalphrosa brought all the 10 children to Mass each week. Soon, Cyprien fell seriously ill and was dying. The couple decided to go to Belgium to seek new treatment options for her husband. On the way, her husband was cured and started "singing God's praises"! "He knew that he owed his physical and spiritual healing to his devoted wife’s prayers on his behalf over the past 17 years of their marriage. Cyprien was transformed into a joyful man and a faithful, affectionate husband." Source for quote: https://holiermatrimony.com/?p=259 

So, now that the couple were happily married and shared their Faith as Catholics - now they could focus more on God's will and work for them. In 1990 Cyprien and Dalphrosa founded the Emmanuael Community. The mission statement from their website reads: "The Emmanuel Community is a Catholic Lay International Community that brings together faithful that share a common call to strive for holiness and commit themselves to actively live their faith in their daily lives through adoration, compassion and evangelization; thus, fulfilling their call as the first believers did who had “only one heart and one soul!” (Acts 4:32)." https://emmanuel.info/en/all-countries/who-are-we/ 

So, how did Cyprien and Dalphrosa die? Why are sources calling them martyrs? 

From the website at Emmaunel: 

"Using his influence Cyprien called for the end of radio stations broadcasting murders, as well as removing the indication of ethnic groups on identity cards. Their commitment to united between the two groups placed Cyprien and Daphrosa at the top of the list of people to be assassinated. On the morning of April 7, 1994, the first day of the genocide, they were murdered with six of their children after a night spent praying before the Blessed Sacrament." https://emmanuel.info/en/cyprien-and-daphrose-rugamba-their-story/ 

So, "Their lives on earth were unjustly ended by evil, but evil did not win the morning Cyprien, Daphrosa and their children died. The lives of the Rugumbas and the hope their story can bring outshines the darkness that surrounded their death. Their lives serve as a testimony that God can convert hearts like Cyprien, He answers the faithful prayers like those of Daphrosa, and the Mercy of Jesus can restore any marriage. Cyprien and Daphrosa are an example that holiness is possible, faithfulness is fruitful, and love is always victorious over evil." https://emmanuel.info/en/cyprien-and-daphrose-rugamba-their-story/ 

"On September 18, 2015, the causes of canonization of Cyprien Rugamba and Daphrosa Mukasanga were opened by Archbishop Thaddée Ntihinyurwa of Kigali. This is the first trial for a beatification of Rwandans." https://emmanuel.info/en/cyprien-and-daphrose-rugamba-their-story/

Let's pray for their intercession to become better married people - if you are married or better in our Faith! Perhaps, they will give you a mini miracle for your family! 

If you want a holy card of them you can go to https://emmanuel.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CyprienDaphrose_English.pdf 

And that's all - we hope you learned something from this article. How can you be inspired by this married couple?