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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. 

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