Skip to main content

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Saint Josephine Bakhita: Feast Day Feb. 8th

Saint Josephine Bakhita was from Sudan, and during her childhood, she was forced into slavery and sold in her native land multiple times. When she was sent to Italy, in1885, to accompany the daughter of the family she was enslaved too, she converted to Catholicism. The religious sisters she was staying with, while her master’s daughter attended school, helped her win her court case and freedom, since slavery was illegal in Italy. Saint Josephine Bakhita eventually became a Canossian Sister and lived out her days in service to the Lord, a life she was able to finely freely choose for herself with her “Yes.” 

In a time when racial tensions continue to plague my county and the world, I like to look to Saint Josephine Bakhita as a strong and beautiful light in the world. Despite enduring her own times of darkness in life, she did not allow her heart to become jaded with hate or pity. Although her past and the pain and horrors that she endured during her enslavement did indeed shape her as a person, Saint Josephine Bakhita did not allow that part of her life to define her. Instead, she allowed God’s light to shine through her actions and life as a religious sister. Saint Josephine Bakhita serves as an extraordinary example of loving ones enemies, and she reminds us, in our modern time, to love our neighbors, no matter what we have endured, and to pray for them, because we are all made in God’s image.

“The Lord has loved me so much; we must love everyone...we must be compassionate!” Saint Josephine Bakhita 

Saint Josephine Bakhita, light in the darkness for a world torn by racial tensions and patron saint of victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, pray that our world may be healed from racism and slavery, and that all people, of every race and creed, may come to see that we are all made in the likeness of the Lord. Amen.

                 (A colored pencil drawing of mine)

Celebrating Through Food:

Since Saint Josephine Bakhita was from Sudan, try making Fava Beans, which is a breakfast dish from the website, “Taste of South Sudan,” that is served with bread. Our grocery store did not have Fava beans, so we used Lima beans that we soaked over night, as a substitution, and then served our dish with Naan bread.




Celebrating Through a Craft:

In honor of Saint Josephine Bakhita, make this great Necklace craft , from the website “Catholic Homebody,” which is a necklace depicting Our Lady of Sorrows that Saint Josephine Bakhita and her religious order wore. Since my children are 4 and 2, we modified the craft by coloring the template and then using yarn instead of ribbon. We also hole-punched our necklaces so that they would open like a locket. If your children are a bit older, the directions for making the necklace on the website “Catholic Homebody” make a very pretty necklace with glitter.





Additional Resources:

Watch this great cartoon about Saint Josephine Bakhita from EWTN’s “My Catholic Family.”

Here is a great article, from Franciscan Media, for further reading and reflection. 

Here also is a link to the Canossian Sisters of New Mexico if you’re interested in learning about Saint Josephine Bakhita’s religious order here in the United States. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Feast Day: Nov. 17th  Saint Elizabeth of Hungary has always held a special place in my heart since she is my confirmation saint. If I'm being honest, when I was reading about saints back in the eighth grade, trying to choose which saint I wanted to take as my patron, my requirements were as follows: (1) She couldn't die a horrible death, (2) She was married with kids, (3) and her life was pretty good allowing her to serve God and others through the blessings she'd been given. In hindsight, my list of "requirements" was probably a little superficial, but now as an adult I focus more on the virtues and saintly qualities of Saint Elizabeth, and find inspiration in how she lived. She was humble, a kind and loving wife and mother, and very generous to the poor. She also made plenty of time to pray and grow in her relationship with the Lord. On her wedding day, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who was a princess, did not wear a crown. Instead she s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Study the Saints

Study the Saints: As I write this post, four days into the New Year, I’m called to reflect upon what New Year’s Resolution I can make that will be the most beneficial for my family and myself. A word that’s inspiring and that comes to mind is “Saints.” Celebrating the Saints on their feast days is wonderful and has been a blessing to my family. My children have learned about various holy men, women, and children from all places of the world and times in history, and they have been able to try foods from various cultures. I love how the Catholic Church is universal! Matthew Kelly wrote a book entitled Rediscover the Saints that I read last year, and I believe it has been part of a catalyst that has taken me to the next level of learning about the Saints. Celebrating saintly feast days is wonderful, but taking the time to read the actual writings of the Saints can be an even bigger game changer and blessing in your life and the lives of your family members. To date, I’ve only read the D...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saint John Neumann

Saint John Neumann: Feast Day Jan. 5th Saint John Neumann, the first American Bishop to be canonized and Patron Saint of Catholic Education, has a special place in my heart. My late grandfather’s name was John Neumann, and when my brother was confirmed, he selected our grandfather to be his sponsor and chose Saint John Neumann as his patron. I like to reflect on the reality that as our grandfather, John Neumann, stood beside him as his sponsor, Saint John Neumann prayed in Heaven for my brother at his Confirmation. Aside from this neat family name connection with a Saint, as a former teacher I also find Saint John Neumann to be inspiring, since he helped increase the number of Catholic schools while he was Bishop of Philadelphia and brought numerous religious sisters into the schools to teach. Faith instruction of children and young people was definitely important to Saint John Neumann. If you are interested in reading more about Saint John Neumann, check out this article from Francis...
Post a Comment
Read more