Saint Josephine Bakhita
Religious Sister
Model of Forgiveness
(Around 1868 – 1947)

Saint’s Life Story

Her Early Life

Josephine, also known as Giuseppina, was born around 1868 to a wealthy Sudanese family in the village of Olgossa in Darfur (now in western Sudan). Her respected and reasonably prosperous father was brother of the village chief of the Daju tribe. She was surrounded by a loving family of three brothers and three sisters, Josephine stated in her autobiography: “I lived a very happy and carefree life, without knowing what suffering was”. That would all change around the year 1875, when one of her elder sisters was abducted by Arab slave traders.

Slave Renamed “Bakhita”

In 1877, when Josephine was around 7 years old, she was seized by Arab slave traders. When her captor asked her name, she couldn’t remember so she didn’t respond. She might have forgotten her given name due to the trauma she faced. Her captor sarcastically gave her the name “Bakhita,” which means “fortunate,” claiming that he would bring her good luck.

After her captivity, Bakhita was forced to travel 600 hundreds of miles on foot to the city of El-Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan. On her journey, she was bought and sold more than once, and over the next several years she was bought and sold several more times in the harsh markets of El Obeid and Khartoum.

During Bakhita’s captivity, she was forced to convert to Islam and was continually abused. She was beaten most days, one time so severely that she could barely move for more than a month, and she often was bound firmly with chains to prevent her escape. One of the worst tortures Bakhita endured was the customary scarring of her breasts, belly, and arm with a sharp razor – 114 inflictions in total. Once the wound was inflicted, salt was then ground into it, causing permanent scarring and identifying the person as property.

Italian Nanny for Augusto and Maria Michieli

Around the age of thirteen, Bakhita was sold to an Italian Vice Consul working in the city of Khartoum, named Callisto Legnani. For the next two years, Callisto treated Bakhita well, despite her being his slave. As a result, when the revolutionaries began to make advancements on the city, Callisto made plans to escape to save his life. Bakhita begged him to take her with him, preferring his kindness over a new owner.

Callisto did so. In March 1885, with the help of a friend named Augusto Michieli, they left Suakin, the largest port of Sudan, for Italy and arrived at the port of Genoa in April. Upon their arrival, Callisto, pressured by the request of Augusto’s wife, Maria, consented to leave Bakhita with them. In the Michielis’ home, Bakhita continued to be treated well, working as a nanny for their newborn daughter, Mimmina.

Canossian Sisters

Three years later, the Michieli family decided to move back to Sudan for business reasons and sold their property in Italy. During the transition, they entrusted Bakhita and their young daughter to the care of the Canossian Sisters in Venice, Italy at the Institute of St. Magdalene of Canossa. It was with those loving sisters that Bakhita was introduced to Jesus Christ, her true Master, and began her formation in the Catholic faith. Through the sisters’ teaching and virtuous witness, Bakhita began to understand Who this great God is and to love Him all the more. Bakhita was moved by His goodness and love, and later said, “O Lord, if I could fly to my people and tell them of your goodness at the top of my voice, oh how many souls would be won!”

Free

When the Michielis returned to take their daughter and Bakhita to Sudan, Bakhita refused to go with them. After days of trying to convince her, the Canossian Sisters involved the civil authorities. Then, in 1889, an Italian court ruled that because the British had outlawed slavery in Sudan before Bakhita’s birth and because Italian law had never recognized slavery as legal, Bakhita had never legally been a slave. For the first time in her life, Bakhita was free and could make her own decisions.

Sister Josephine Margaret Fortunata

Bakhita stayed with the Canossian Sisters. On January 9, 1890, Bakhita was baptized, confirmed, and given her First Holy Communion by the Archbishop of Venice (later, Pope Pius X). Later, she kissed the baptismal font and said, “Here, I became a daughter of God.” She was given the baptismal name Josephine Margaret Fortunata, “Fortunata” being the Latin translation of the Arabic name “Bakhita.”

In 1893, Josephine entered their novitiate. Three years later on December 8, 1896, she made her vows, becoming Sister Josephine Margaret Fortunata.

Convent in Schio, Italy

In 1902, Josephine was assigned to the convent in Schio, a town northeast of Verona in northern Italy. Here, she spent the rest of her life. In that convent, Josephine was given the responsibilities of welcoming guests as the doorkeeper as well as working as a cook and sacristan. When she was on duty at the door, her friendly, sweet voice was pleasing to children, comforting to the poor, and encouraging to others.

Through her virtues and evident love of God, Josephine evangelized. She did not shy away from sharing her story, including her merciful heart that forgave her abusers. She once said, “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!” She served the people of God and grew in holiness in that convent for forty-two years.

Josephine’s gentleness, calming voice, and the ever-present smile became well known. Vicenzans still refer to her as Sor Moretta (“little brown sister”) or Madre Moretta (“black mother”).

Her Death

At the end of her life, Josephine suffered again, this time from illness. She used a wheelchair but she retained her cheerfulness.

On her deathbed, she relived the horrors of her captivity but now confronted those horrors with God’s grace. Josephine said “If I was to meet those slave raiders that abducted me and those who tortured me, I’d kneel down to them to kiss their hands, because, if it had not been for them, I would not have become a Christian and religious woman.”

Josephine passed away on February 8, 1947 in Schio, Veneto, Italy. Her last words were cries of love for our Blessed Mother.

Saint Josephine Bakhiti was the first Sudanese saint and the patron saint of Sudan. Her legacy lives on, inspiring countless individuals to fight against all forms of injustice and to strive for a world free from the chains of human trafficking and slavery.

Born:                   Around 1868 in Oglassa, Darfur, Sudan

Died:                   February 8, 1947 in Schio, Veneto, Italy

Beatified:           May 17, 1992 by Pope John Paul II

Canonized:        October 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Feast Day:         February 8

Patron Saint:    Africa; Human-Trafficking Survivors; South Sudan; Sudan

Source:

• • CatholicSaints.Info » Saint Josephine Bakhita
  • Saint Josephine Bakhita – My Catholic Life!
  • Saint Josephine Bakhita – Saint for a Minute: Saints & Blesseds
  • Mother Josephine Bakhita – Vatican
  • Josephine Bakhita – Wikipedia

Prayers

Video Link

Saint of the Week: St. Josephine Bakhita – YouTube (The True Enlightenment!)