Sr. Raphael was born Margaret Mildred in April 1925. She was born in Athlone, Co. Westmeath and this is where Mildred had her early education at the local convent school. The desire to be a missionary Sister came early and Mildred joined the Medical Missionaries of Mary when she was eighteen. This was just six years after the Congregation was founded. She took the religious name of Sister Mary Raphael. She was a bright girl and had done well in her Leaving Certificate so she was encouraged to study medicine. She began these studies while still in the initial religious formation period. As a student, she lived in Rosemount, Dublin, and helped the fund-raising effort by becoming an expert bee-keeper!
