(1868-1947) Born to a wealthy family in Darfur, Sudan, she was kidnapped by slave traders when she was 9 years old and given the name Bakhita, which is Arabic for “lucky.” Bakhita was bought and sold several times, mistreated, beaten, and permanently scarred. When she was around 14 years old, she was bought by the Italian Vice Consul, who brought her back to Italy with him. She was treated well and freed within six years. Bakhita was baptised around 21 years old, taking the name Josephine. Three years later, she entered the Institute of Canossian Daughters of Charity in Venice, Italy, and served as a Canossian Sister for 50 years after taking her final vows, caring for the poor and raising funds for missions.
Pope Benedict XVI identified Josephine Bakhita as a clear example of finding hope in God. In his encyclical letter on hope, Spe Salvi, he wrote, “The hope born in her which had ‘redeemed’ her she could not keep to herself; this hope had to reach many, to reach everybody.” How do you share hope?
“I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me – I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good” (Saint Josephine Bakhita).
Reflection by Brad Farmer