#st josephine bakhita

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Josephine Bakhita 1869-1947 Feast Day: February 8 Patronage: Sudan

Saint Josephine grew up in a happy and prosperous family in Darfur, Sudan. At 9, she was kidnapped and bought and sold numerous times into slavery. Some of her owners were fair, others cruel, beating her severely. In 1883, Josephine was sold to the Italian Vice Consul and brought to Italy, where she was given to another family to serve as a nanny. Thru the guidance of the Canossian Sisters of Venice, she learned about God and entered the Church. The Sacraments were administered by Cardinal Patriarch of Venice, Pope St. Pius X. In 1896, She became a sister of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, assisting her community and teaching others about God. She forgave and even thanked her kidnappers because it was through them she came to know God. The people of Sochi regarded her as their protector during WWII. {website}

[the-mercy-workers]

Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!

St Josephine Bakhita

[catholic-saint-tournament]

St Josephine Bakhita, Sudanese woman who was trafficked and enslaved but escaped and became a nun in Italy.

a vote added for St Josephine!!! she's a modern saint and that bracket isn't as popular yet so we'll see what comes of it!

[andallshallbewell]

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (February 8)

On February 8, the Church commemorates the life of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Canossian Sister who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Sudan.

Josephine Bakhita was born in 1869 in a small village in the Darfur region of Sudan.

She was kidnapped while working in the fields with her family and subsequently sold into slavery.

Her captors asked for her name but she was too terrified to remember, so they named her “Bakhita,” which means “fortunate” in Arabic.

Retrospectively, Bakhita was very fortunate, but the first years of her life do not necessarily attest to it.

She was tortured by her various owners who branded her, beat, and cut her.

In her biography, she notes one particularly terrifying moment when one of her masters cut her 114 times and poured salt in her wounds to ensure that the scars remained.

“I felt I was going to die any moment, especially when they rubbed me in with the salt,” Bakhita wrote.

She bore her suffering valiantly though she did not know Christ or the redemptive nature of suffering. She also had a certain awe for the world and its creator.

“Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars, I said to myself: 'Who could be the Master of these beautiful things?' And I felt a great desire to see Him, to know Him and to pay Him homage.”

After being sold a total of five times, Bakhita was purchased by Callisto Legnani, the Italian consul in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

Two years later, he took Bakhita to Italy to work as a nanny for his colleague, Augusto Michieli.

He, in turn, sent Bakhita to accompany his daughter to a school in Venice run by the Canossian Sisters.

Bakhita felt called to learn more about the Church and was baptized with the name “Josephine Margaret.”

In the meantime, Michieli wanted to take Josephine and his daughter back to Sudan, but Josephine refused to return.

The disagreement escalated and was taken to the Italian courts where it was ruled that Josephine could stay in Italy because she was a free woman.

Slavery was not recognized in Italy and it had also been illegal in Sudan since before Josephine had been born.

Josephine remained in Italy and decided to enter Canossians in 1893.

She made her profession in 1896 and was sent to Northern Italy, where she dedicated her life to assisting her community and teaching others to love God.

She was known for her smile, gentleness and holiness.

She even went on record saying:

“If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and Religious today.”

Pope John Paul II beatified Josephine on 17 May 1992 and canonized shortly after on 1 October 2000.

She is venerated as a modern African saint and as a statement against the brutal history of slavery.

She has been adopted as the patron saint of modern Sudan and human trafficking survivors.

Caritas Bakhita House in London, which provides accommodation and support for women escaping human trafficking, is named in her honour.

She is a shining ray of hope for human trafficking victims and an inspirational demonstration of how a victim can recover from their trauma and become whole again.

[ah-bright-wings]

St. Josephine Bakhita, pray for us!

"Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars, I said to myself, 'Who could be the Master of these beautiful things?' I felt a great desire to see him, to know him and to pay him homage."

-St. Josephine Bakhita

[eternal-echoes]

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

- St. Josephine Bakhita

[helloparkerrose]

As always, happy feast day to my namesake, St. Josephine Bakhita!

[ynhart]

St. Josephine Bakhita

[myremnantarmy]

“Mary protected me even before I knew it.”

~St. Josephine Bakhita

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT JOSEPHINE BAKHITA The Patron Against Human Trafficking and Slavery Feast Day: February 8

"In God's will, there is great peace."

Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born in 1869 in the village of Olgossa at the Sultanate of Darfur in modern-day western Sudan.

In 1877, her happy family life was brought to a tragic end when she was kidnapped by Arab slave traders (who had abducted her elder sister two years earlier), and forced to walk barefoot about 960 kilometers (600 miles) to El-Obeid, before being sold to slavery.

Since the traumatic experience made her forget her name, she was renamed Bakhita, an Arabic word meaning 'lucky' or 'fortunate.' She was also forcibly converted to Islam. Her first owner, a rich Arab merchant, who used her as a maid for his two daughters. They treated her relatively well, until after offending one of her owner's sons, wherein the son lashed and kicked her so badly that she remained bedridden for one month. Under the fourth owner, who was a cruel Turkish general, and she had to serve his mother-in-law and his wife, who were cruel to their slaves.

Bakhita said: 'During those years, I do not recall a day that passed without some wound or other. When a wound from the whip began to heal, other blows would pour down on me.'

Her most terrifying memory was the marking: her skin and flesh were deeply cut with a blade, and the wounds filled with salt to ensure permament scarring. A total of 114 patterns were cut into her breasts, belly, and into her right arm.

In Khartoum, Bakhita was bought in 1883, by Callisto Legnani, the Italian Vice Consul, who was a very kind man, ensuring tranquility and peace. Bakhita was brought to Italy two years later, and was given as a present to a noble woman living near Venice. In 1888, she was left in the custody of the Canossian Sisters in Venice. Eventually, an Italian court ruled that Bakhita was a free woman, because the Italian law did not recognize slavery.

On January 9, 1890, she was baptized, confirmed and received Holy Communion by the hands of the future Pope Pius X - Archbishop Giuseppe Sarto, the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. In 1896, she made the first profession among the Canossian Sisters. Josephine was assigned as cook, sacristan and portress, and eventually to the formation of the sisters destined to Africa. They said of her: 'Her mind was always on God, and her heart in Africa.' She was universally loved for her gentleness, serenity and cheerfulness.

One time, she was asked: 'What would you do, if you were to meet your captors?'

Without hesitation, she responded: 'If I were to meet those who kidnapped me, and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands. For, if these things had not happened, I would not have been a Christian and a religious today.'

Whispering words of joy and praise to the Blessed Mother, she said: 'Yes, I am so happy: Our Lady… Our Lady!'

Josephine died at 8:10 PM on a Saturday - February 8, 1947. Years later, she is beatified on May 17, 1992, and canonized on October 1, 2000, by Pope St. John Paul II.

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Josephine Bakhita

1869-1947 Feast Day: February 8 Patronage: Sudan

Saint Josephine grew up in a happy and prosperous family in Darfur, Sudan. At 9, she was kidnapped and bought and sold numerous times into slavery. Some of her owners were fair, others cruel, beating her severely. In 1883, Josephine was sold to the Italian Vice Consul and brought to Italy, where she was given to another family to serve as a nanny. Thru the guidance of the Canossian Sisters of Venice, she learned about God and entered the Church. The Sacraments were administered by Cardinal Patriarch of Venice, Pope St. Pius X. In 1896, She became a sister of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, assisting her community and teaching others about God. She forgave and even thanked her kidnappers because it was through them she came to know God. The people of Sochi regarded her as their protector during WWII. 

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[mautdesigns]

February 8th, is the feast day of Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita. St Bakhita has been adopted as the patron Saint of Sudan, and survivors of human trafficking.

Bakhita was kidnaped into slavery when she was about 7 years old, and was made to walk over 600 miles barefoot. Bakhita was unable to remember her birth name, possibly due to the trauma of the abduction and abuse. Bakhita is Arabic for 'lucky' or 'fortunate'. Over the next 12 years she had many "owners" and was treated very badly by many of them. She was marked with a process of scarification by a particularly cruel mistress resulting in a total of 114 intricate patterns cut into her torso.

Bakhita escaped slavery after being left in the care of the Canossian Sisters in Venice with her "owner's" daughter, Augusto Michieli. When he returned to take his daughter and Bakhita back to Sudan Bakhita refused and the Canossian Sisters took up her cause. After a legal battle, the Italian court determined that Bakhita had never legally been a slave.

Bakhita stayed with the Canossian Sisters and became a nun, retaining the name Bakhita. She was quite popular with the common people who refer to her as Sor Moretta ("little brown sister") or Madre Moretta ("black mother").

Bakhita died at 8:10 PM on the 8th of February 1947. She was canonized on October 1st, 2000. She is the only Sudanese Catholic Saint.

There are few images of Bakhita, this is the best known.

#mautdesigns #womenempowerment #womensupportingwomen #women #slavery #slaverystillexists #endslavery #humantraffickingsurvivor #humantrafficking #watercolorsketch #playing #watercolorsketchbook #watercolorpainting #portrait #watercolorportrait #watercolor #womenempowerment #practice #practicemakesprogress

[catholic-saint-tournament]

StFrances Xavier Cabrini

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

St Josephine Bakhita

St Katharine Drexel

St Gianna Molla

St Josemaria Escriva

oh ho ho another FABULOUS set of modern saints!

ALL OF THEM ARE NEW TO THE LIST!! Keep voting for your favorite ones if they'll make it to the modern bracket!

[silvestromedia]

"There is only one tragedy in this life, not to have been a saint."- Leon Bloy St. Josephine Bakhita, a former Sudanese slave who became a nun, image hangs from the facade of St. Peter's Basilica

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (February 8)

On February 8, the Church commemorates the life of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Canossian Sister who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Sudan.

Josephine Bakhita was born in 1869, in a small village in the Darfur region of Sudan.

She was kidnapped while working in the fields with her family and subsequently sold into slavery.

Her captors asked for her name but she was too terrified to remember, so they named her “Bakhita,” which means “fortunate” in Arabic.

Retrospectively, Bakhita was very fortunate, but the first years of her life do not necessarily attest to it.

She was tortured by her various owners who branded her, beat and cut her.

In her biography, she notes one particularly terrifying moment when one of her masters cut her 114 times and poured salt in her wounds to ensure that the scars remained.

“I felt I was going to die any moment, especially when they rubbed me in with the salt,” Bakhita wrote.

She bore her suffering valiantly though she did not know Christ or the redemptive nature of suffering. She also had a certain awe for the world and its creator.

“Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars, I said to myself: 'Who could be the Master of these beautiful things?' And I felt a great desire to see Him, to know Him and to pay Him homage.”

After being sold a total of five times, Bakhita was purchased by Callisto Legnani, the Italian consul in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

Two years later, he took Bakhita to Italy to work as a nanny for his colleague, Augusto Michieli.

He, in turn, sent Bakhita to accompany his daughter to a school in Venice run by the Canossian Sisters.

Bakhita felt called to learn more about the Church and was baptized with the name “Josephine Margaret.”

In the meantime, Michieli wanted to take Josephine and his daughter back to Sudan, but Josephine refused to return.

The disagreement escalated and was taken to the Italian courts where it was ruled that Josephine could stay in Italy because she was a free woman.

Slavery was not recognized in Italy and it had also been illegal in Sudan since before Josephine had been born.

Josephine remained in Italy and decided to enter Canossians in 1893.

She made her profession in 1896 and was sent to Northern Italy, where she dedicated her life to assisting her community and teaching others to love God.

She was known for her smile, gentleness and holiness. She even went on record saying:

“If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and Religious today.”

Her last years were marked by pain and sickness. She died on 8 February 1947.

Josephine was beatified on 17 May 1992 and canonized shortly after on 1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II.

She is the first person to be canonized from Sudan. She is also the patron saint of the country.