Its immediate aim is to give all-round formation

The immediate goal of the St Raphael work, therefore, is the integral formation of all who take part in it. They should realize that they are participating actively in something very important, for they have come to prepare themselves to be good parents later on, or – if God so desires – to be souls totally dedicated to his service. And so, we expect them to make an effort, to be serious about things. This requires a basic level of commitment and a sense of responsibility.

Sense of responsibility

When a student during his university years continues behaving as the son of a well-to-do family, being irresponsible and childish, he cannot be expected upon finishing his studies to suddenly become a man, simply because he has received a diploma or professional degree.

Something similar can be said about young people at any social level. “Truly an abandoned youth is like uncultivated land that produces only thorns.”² Such then is our mission: to form mature men and women by cultivating the land so that it can bear fruit.