A Short Biography of St. Josephine Bakhita
- Slavery to Freedom
- A Child of God
- A Daughter of St. Magdalene
- Her Inner Face
- As the Master desires...
- Prayer
Bakhita was born in 1869 in OLGOSSA, in DARFUR, a territory to the South-East of SUDAN, inhabited by the Dajus, one of the major ethnic groups who had settled in that region centuries before. Bakhita's family was prosperous, possessing lands with plantations and cattle. She herself said: "My life was completely happy. I did not know the meaning of sorrow." Bakhita had three brothers and three sisters. In 1874 the elder sister was kidnapped.
In 1876, two men kidnapped Bakhita, who was then about seven years of age. After a month's imprisonment she was sold to a slave-trader. With great courage, the girl attempted to flee, but was recaptured by a shepherd and sold again to another fierce-looking master. One day she was beaten and left unconscious and bleeding on the ground. The fierce-looking master sold Bakhita again to another master, whose wife subjected the young girl to the torture of tattooing. Her torturer spared only her face, because it was very beautiful, while he inflicted 114 cuts with a razor on her stomach and arms. The poor little victim felt she was dying, especially when salt was rubbed into her wounds to keep them open. Immersed in a pool of blood, she was carried away on a pallet and left for a month without even a rag to dry the serum that oozed from her wounds.
In 1882 Bakhita was sold to the consular official Callisto Legnani who was very kind to her. Right away he showed his benevolence, dressing her for the first time in a tunic which restored her dignity as a woman. He would have brought her back to her own village if Bakhita had been able to remember its name, but she was too small at the time of her kidnapping to register exact details. When, in 1885, Legnani was preparing to leave Africa for Italy, Bakhita asked for and received permission to go with him. They embarked, together with a friend of the Consul, Agusto Michieli. It was to the latter that Legnani gave the young African upon their arrival at Genoa.
Mr. Michieli, a rich businessman from Venice, took Bakhita with him to his villa at Zianigo, near Mirano Veneto. Here, for three years, Bakhita was nursemaid to the little daughter, Alice, nicknamed Mimmina. The Michieli were good, honest people, but not church-goers. Mrs. Turina Michieli, who was Orthodox, had forbidden Bakhita to enter a church. However, Providence had placed on Bakhita's path the Michieli's manager, Illuminato Checchini, who played a fundamental part in her journey of faith. "A man with a heart of gold and an enlightened conscience" was how Bakhita described him; he always had a "fatherly love" for her. It was he, in fact, who concerned himself with the religious education of the young African. When the Michieli returned in 1886 to Africa, where they had acquired a large hotel at Suakim and took Bakhita with them, the good Illuminato felt remorse, because he had not yet been able to speak to her about God. He was, thus, very happy, the following year, when he saw Bakhita return with Mrs. Michieli and Mimmina, and inwardly promised to do everything he could for the benefit of that soul. "The missionaries", he said, "go to Africa to convert its inhabitants, shall we do nothing to enlighten this poor girl?" He began by presenting her with a little crucifix, saying to himself: "Jesus, I entrust her to you. Now look after her". He was also instrumental in placing Mimmina and Bakhita in the care of the Canossian Sisters in Venice when the Michieli had to leave again for Suakim. At this institute Bakhita was admitted to the catechumenate. When, after nine months, Mrs. Michieli returned for her daughter and the girl whom she regarded as in some way, her slave, in order to take them back to Africa, she encountered a very firm attitude on the part of the latter. It was on that occasion that Bakhita, who was still a catechumen, displayed singular strength of spirit and great faith. In fact, when confronted with the affection and economic security offered her by the Michieli family, and the hope of rediscovering her family if she returned to Africa she preferred God's love and abandonment to divine Providence for her future which, in human terms, was very uncertain. Thus she said, with determination: "No, I cannot return to Africa because I would not be able to profess my faith in the Lord. I love the lady and her little girl very much, but I cannot lose my God. So I am remaining". It was November 29, 1889, as Bakhita later recorded in her memoirs. This moment of courageous decision is most significant; it was to set the tone for her entire life.
In this difficult struggle Bakhita had the support of the Patriarch of Venice and the King's Procurator, who, according to Italian law, which forbade slavery, declared her to be a free person.
As preparations were made for the great day - January 9, 1890 - when she was to receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion at the hands of the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Agostini, Bakhita experienced very mixed feelings. On the one hand, she was profoundly aware of her own unworthiness, while on the other, she felt indescribable joy at the thought that she would become a child of God. Realizing God's ineffable love, she was at times intensely moved. She then had moments when she was unable to grasp how she, a poor black girl, a slave, an ignorant person, could be called by the Lord His daughter, she who had nothing to offer Him. She would then run to Mother Fabretti, her catechists, who calmed her, assuring her that in the eyes of God, wealth and wisdom were worth nothing: all that counted was love. "And you love the Lord, don't you?" Bakhita would agree, smiling contentedly, her eyes wet with tears. "Go in peace, then", concluded Mother Fabretti, "and call Him with confidence: "Our Father who art in Heaven...
After she had been baptized, receiving the names of Josephine, Margherita and Fortunata, Bakhita remained at the Institute of the Catechumens, where she soon became aware of the call to a life of special consecration. She did not dare expressed this desire, feeling herself to be unworthy. She feared that she might disfigure the Congregation on account of her black skin. Her confessor reassured her. God does not look at the colour of one's skin, but rather at the innermost depths of one's heart.
Bakhita was accepted, and after three years of Novitiate she made her Vows on Decembe 8, 1896. Cardinal Sarto, the then Patriarch of Venice, examined her and told her: "Pronounce your holy vows without fear. This is what Jesus wants. Jesus loves you. Love Him and serve Him always in this way". He also reassured her about the eternal salvation of her dear ones: "God has infinite ways of making Himself known and when He chooses a person to be His bride, He also thinks of her family".
After she had been baptized, receiving the names of Josephine, Margherita and Fortunata, Bakhita remained at the Institute of the Catechumens, where she soon became aware of the call to a life of special consecration. She did not dare expressed this desire, feeling herself to be unworthy. She feared that she might disfigure the Congregation on account of her black skin. Her confessor reassured her. God does not look at the colour of one's skin, but rather at the innermost depths of one's heart.
Bakhita was accepted, and after three years of Novitiate she made her Vows on Decembe 8, 1896. Cardinal Sarto, the then Patriarch of Venice, examined her and told her: "Pronounce your holy vows without fear. This is what Jesus wants. Jesus loves you. Love Him and serve Him always in this way". He also reassured her about the eternal salvation of her dear ones: "God has infinite ways of making Himself known and when He chooses a person to be His bride, He also thinks of her family".
After her religious profession, which took place in Verona, Mother Bakhita returned to Venice, and later was sent to the house in Schio. Here she spent the best part of 45 years, immediately gaining the sympathy and esteem of all the town's inhabitants, who began to call her affectionately 'Madre Moretta' (Black Mother). Bakhita achieved the ideals set by the Foundress, St. Magdalene of Canossa, who wished her daughters to be "anchorites and apostles". Whether in church or sacristy, at the door or in the kitchen, she was engrossed in her Lord, and daily bore witness to the Lord's love for all His creatures. During the First World War, with great love, she set about easing the physical suffering and moral anguish of all those around her, in particular, the soldiers looked after in the Institute, which had been turned into a military hospital. During the Second World War people attributed to her presence the fact that Schio was preserved from the bombing. In fact, when the alarm sounded, Bakhita would say, "Don't worry, because the 'Master' knows what He has to do nothing will happen here."
From the moment of her profession, she showed how close she felt to her African brothers and sisters. On that day she uttered the following heartfelt prayer: "O Lord, if I could but fly to my people and preach aloud Your goodness to everyone! Oh, how many souls would I win for you. Among the first would be my mother, my father, my brothers, my sister, still a slave... all, all the poor black people of Africa. Grant, Jesus, that they too may know and love you!" Between 1936 and 1938 Mother Bakhita was at Vimercate, the seat of the Canossian Missionary Novitiate. This was her base for journeys to various Italian cities to promote the missions. She was accompanied by another Sister, who had returned from her mission in China. Everyone wanted to hear first-hand her "wonderful story". Referring to this experience, Mother Bakhita was to say later: "Many will think I enjoyed travelling around, but for me it was real martyrdom". Wherever she went, she left goodness in her wake, even though she herself was not aware of it.
At the height of World War II, on December 8, 1943, Mother Bakhita celebrated the 50th anniversary of her religious life. Not only her own community, but the whole of Schio, celebrated, despite the adverse circumstances of the time. But now, for Bakhita, aches and pains were beginning to make themselves felt, crippling arthritis, asthmatic bronchitis with cough, convulsed her body. This was not to be wondered at, considering the suffering she had undergone in her younger years and the rigours of the northern climate to which she was not accustomed. During her long illness never a complaint passed her lips. When she was asked: "Don't you feel anything, Mother Bakhita?" She replied: "Of course I feel something - I'm alive; it's only the dead who can't feel anything". "And how is it that you never complain?" "Oh, when nature wants something, I say: now be good, we'll see about it. Then I think about Jesus on the cross, and about the Sorrowful Virgin. That way, nature is calmed, and I no longer need anything". What heroic patience! Very soon she had to abandon her walking-stick in favour of a wheelchair, until broncho pneumonia brought her inexorably to the end. Fully conscious, and to the great edification of all, she received the last sacraments. The Virgin Mary came to comfort her at the moment of her death on Saturday, February 8, 1947. "How happy I am... the Madonna, the Madonna! These were her last words as she passed from this earthly life to the full freedom of God's children.
"In St. Josephine Bakhita we find an outstanding witness to God's fatherly love and a bright sign of the enduring value of the Beatitudes. In our time, when the race for power, money, and pleasure causes distrust, violence and loneliness, the Lord is giving us Sister Bakhita as the Universal Sister, so that she may reveal to us the secret of the truest happiness: the Beatitudes. Hers is a message of heroic goodness, mirroring the goodness of the heavenly Father. She has left us a testimony of evangelical reconciliation and forgiveness, which will surely give comfort to the Christians in her homeland, Sudan, so sorely tried by conflict that has lasted for many years and caused many victims. Their faithfulness and their hope are reason fro pride and thanksgiving on the part of the whole Church. At this time of great tribulations, Sister Bakhita goes before them on the road of imitation of Christ, a deepening of the Christian life and of unshakeable attachment to the Church." (John Paul II - May 17,1992).
Mother Josephine Bakhita's life is marked by unconditional surrender to the will of God. Her motto was "What the Master Wishes". Thus she made her spiritual life very simple, because "doing God's will well" is the essence of perfection.
In all the positions she held as a Canossian - cook, embroiderer, sacristan, portress - Bakhita always showed herself to be a true "Daughter of Charity, Servant of the poor". The virtues that mark her relationship with her neighbours are: Goodness, Meekness, Tenderness. Her black hands caressed the heads of the children who attended the Institute's schools daily. Her amiable voice, which had the inflection of her African songs, was pleasing to the little children, comforting to the poor and the suffering, and encouraging to all who knocked at the door of the Institute.
The value of forgiveness is evident in Bakhita: "If I met those slave traders who kidnapped me and treated me so cruelly, I would kneel to kiss their hands, because if that had not happened, I would not be a Christian and a religious today." One is impressed above all by the excuse she makes for them: "Poor things, maybe they did not know they were hurting me so much: they were the masters, I was their slave. Just as we are used to doing good, so they did that by force of habit, not because they were wicked". As she told her terrible story, she continued to thank the Lord, who, in unimaginable ways, had led her to the faith and made her His bride. There was no hint of resentment in her words: she had forgiven everyone from her heart and prayed for them all.
From her childhood, Bakhita learnt to wonder at the beauties of creation. Even as a slave, she found comfort in admiring the sun, the moon, and the stars. She told how, when she had, finally, lost hope of ever seeing her family again, she began to appreciate more the beauties of nature. She wondered who could have been their Maker and ardently desired to know Him so as to be able to thank Him and do Him homage.
She was utterly surprised when she began to grasp the meaning of this truth: through Baptism you will become a child of God. "A child of God - I, a poor black girl!", she would repeat, filled with amazement. Her baptism gave her such great joy that she felt its beneficial effects ever after. "Here, I became a child of God!" she exclaimed with emotion, kneeling at the baptismal font when she had the good fortune to visit the church where she had been baptized. Baptism shaped her human and Christian future completely, and her whole life was overwhelmed with wonder at the goodness of a Father who orders everything for the good of those whom He has chosen. This, then, was the source of Bakhita's constant goodness.
The moment that had a great and decisive impact on her life was when she discovered the infinite love of God, manifested in his Crucified Son. Seeing the image of Jesus on the cross for the first time, Bakhita was greatly impressed, and asked: "What did that man do that was so wrong, for him to be treated in such a way?" "Nothing," was the reply, "He wished to die for us, for love of us, and also for you". "Also for me!" astonished Bakhita repeatedly. Always drawn irresistibly by the love of Jesus who had died on the cross for her, she became a strong woman, firm and unshakeable in her decision to devote herself totally to the service of her new heavenly Master. Consequently, her former resignation to her fate was transformed into free and holy abandonment to the divine will of Him whom she still gladly called "el Paron", "the Master", out of long-standing mental habit, but now no longer as a slave of arbitrary and evil masters by fate, but as a "slave of love" carrying out the orders of the good God, who loves His servants as a Father.
Her life, after death, would also depend on the will of the "Master". For this reason, when she was sick, she replied to those who asked for her prayers: "If the Lord permits, I will look after everyone from Heaven, I will obtain many graces for the salvation of souls."
O God, our Father, liberty for the oppressed and comfort for the poor, you call men and women, young and old, from all nations to experience the blessedness of freedom and faith. Inflame the hearts of your children with the desire to reach the same holiness with which you filled St. Josephine Bakhita, our universal sister and model of hope and grant that, faithful to your commandments, we, too, may serve you with the same purity of heart through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Meditations on the Life of St. Josephine Bakhita for each day that her relic is in your house
First Day
When Mother Bakhita was dying, the sisters of her community were gathered sadly around her bedside. Mother Bakhita turned to them and said: “No, no, don’t be sad, I’ll still be with you. If the Lord allows me to, I’ll send many graces from heaven for the salvation of souls”. Then, after some time, Mother Bakhita exclaimed: “Now it is to time to go to St. Peter!” Thinking that she was referring to the Parish Church, Sister Dalla Costa replied: “Yes, let us both go, arm in arm and we shall climb all those stairs together.” “No,” Mother Bakhita replied, “Not that St. Peter’s, but the one in heaven. I will present myself before him and ask him to call our Lady” (at that moment she seemed to see her, for she had such a sweet smile and she cried out “La Madonna! La Madonna!“) “Ah, you are here! Good, let us go to the Foundress now (Magdalene of Canossa). Once I am there, I will never leave. I will stay forever!” Then she breathed her last.
Prayer Intention
Many people do not want to talk about death. And yet, if there is anything that is certain, it is death itself. We should not be afraid of death. Death is not the end, it is only the beginning. It is our birthday into heaven.
Pray, therefore, that you may have a happy and peaceful death, surrounded by your loved ones, able to receive the sacraments especially the Anointing of the sick and the viaticum, and greeted with joy by the saints and angels as you are embraced by the arms of the Heavenly Father.
Second Day
In the convent in Schio, Mother Bakhita carried out various tasks with great love: embroidery, cooking, door-keeping, and sacristan. Her diligence and simplicity attracted many people to her. Mothers and children from the school looked for any excuse to exchange even a few words with her. The children gathered around her and begged: “Mother Moretta, tell us a lovely story!” Mother Bakhita immediately started with her best bit: “The story of Joseph, the Hebrew”. And this was her story too.
Prayer Intention
Mother Bakhita’s brand of holiness consists in embracing the ordinary such as doing household chores, with simplicity, diligence, and with great love. She enjoyed to hear the laughter of children and listened to their mothers as they confide to her their struggles and problems.
Pray, therefore, that you may be able to embrace the ordinary events of your life with faithfulness and love. Pray for parents that they will be able to fulfill their vocation or parenthood and for their children that they may come to know and love always.
Third Day
This was her story. Sometime around 1869 Bakhita was born into this well-off family who owed vast plantations and numerous heads of cattle. There was much joy in the family until one day, when Bakhita was five years old, the rhythmic thump of the hammers in the mortars and the happy voices of the children running about among the huts was suddenly shattered by a shout of alarm and terror: “The slave traders! The slave traders!” Everyone tried to escape, but Bakhita’s eldest sister was taken together with the other young men and women. For the whole of her life Bakhita would repeat: “How much my mother cried and how much we did, too.” As she grew older, Bakhita did all her best to lighten the sorrow of her mother. Bakhita also loved nature. She was enchanted by the rapid rising and setting of the of the sun. She was filled with wonder as she admired the glittering stars which were so close in the limpid African nights. The ample tropical vegetation in its variety of plants and flowers captured her interests and she asked herself: “Oh, who is the Master of all these beautiful things? How I would like to meet him and pay Him homage!”
Prayer Intention
It pains us when we are separated from our loved ones. Pray for you family and relatives who are away from home. May God’s blessing be upon them wherever they are and whatever they are doing. Pray, too, that you may always have a deep appreciation for all that God has made and become good stewards of them.
Fourth Day
One day Bakhita left the village with a friend to play and to gather herbs when all of a sudden they fell silent. Two armed strangers appeared from nowhere and took her by force: “I was petrified with fear. I trembled from head to foot and tried to shout out, but a lump in my throat prevented me.” Many days later, one of her kidnappers asked her named. She was so traumatized she could not tell him her name. So the kidnappers gave her the name Bakhita, which means “luck” in arabic. How much she suffered during those years of slavery was unimaginable. She was like a merchandise at the market. She was maltreated by her masters. She was branded and tattooed and left to die.
Prayer Intention
Pray for victims of human trafficking throughout the world; for children, whose innocence have been taken away and forced to work in squalid condition. Ask the Lord to help you to recognize and to value the dignity of each person as created in the image and likeness of God.
Fifth Day
The fifth and last time Bakhita was sold as a slave was when the Italian consul bought her. It brought to a close a painful chapter of her past: a story of terror and humiliation. She was brought to Italy upon her own request and went to work as a nanny to the Michieli family. The Michieli family had a Mr. Checchini as a manager for their business. Mr. Checchini was instrumental in the conversion of Bakhita to Christianity. One day, Mr. Checchini gave Bakhita a silver crucifix. “As he gave it to me, he kissed it with devotion; then he explained to me that Jesus Christ, Son of God, had died for us. I looked at it almost secretly, was filled with a mysterious force and felt something inside me that I could not understand”. Later Bakhita said: “If I had known the Lord during my slavery how much less I would have suffered.”
Prayer Intention
Pray for the sick and the homebound and especially those who have no access to proper medical care. Pray that they may be restored to health and that they may find comfort and meaning through the suffering of Jesus Christ.
Sixth Day
While Bakhita and the child she was taking care were boarding at the Institute run by the Canossian sisters in Venice, Bakhita expressed her desire to become a Christian. The sisters instructed her and in January 9, 1890, Bakhita received Baptism, Confirmation, and Communion. Every time she visited the church where she was baptized, she always went to kiss the baptismal font and reminded herself: “Here, I became a daughter of God.”
Prayer Intention
Pray for our Catechumens as they prepare to receive the Easter Sacraments. Pray that they may be open to receive the teachings of Christ. Pray also for our brothers and sisters baptized in other Christian traditions and now wish to enter into full communion with us. Pray that they may find in us a spirit of welcome and support in their journey of faith
Seventh Day
Josephine Bakhita hoped to become a Daughter of Charity in the Canossian Institute. She sent in her request to enter the Institute and much to her surprise, the response was prompt and favourable. The superior of the Mother House in Verona, Sr. Anna Previtali, wanted to have the joy of giving the Canossian habit to the Sudanese Postulant and later, she received her vows in the house where the Foundress, St. Magdalene of Canossa, began her work, lived, and died. Here, on December 8, 1896, Sr. Josephine Bakhita offered herself to God in order to give herself to her brothers and sisters. On that occasion she expressed her desires: “O Lord, if only I could fly down to my people and preach in a loud voice to everyone of your goodness! Oh, what a lot of souls I could win for you! Among the first would be my mother, my father, my brothers and my sister who is still a slave... Jesus, let all my African brothers and sisters come to know and love you.”
Prayer Intention
Pray for vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, religious life, and lay missioners. Pray for those who have already generously responded to God’s call that they will always persevere and remain faithful to the Gospel. Pray for the missions in Africa and throughout the world that many people will come to know and love the Lord.