Josephine Bakhita
St Peter's Basilica by Pope John Paul II | |
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Canonized | 1 October 2000, St Peter's Basilica by Pope John Paul II |
Feast | 8 February |
Josephine Margaret Bakhita, , the first black woman to receive the honor in the modern era.
Biography
Early life
She was born around 1869 in Darfur (now in western Sudan) in the village of Olgossa, west of Nyala and close to Mount Agilerei.[2] She was one of the Daju people;[3][4] her respected and reasonably prosperous father was brother of the village chief. She was surrounded by a loving family of three brothers and three sisters; as she says in her autobiography: "I lived a very happy and carefree life, without knowing what suffering was".[5]
Slavery
In 1877, when she was 7–8 years old, she was seized by Arab slave traders, who had abducted her elder sister two years earlier. She was forced to walk barefoot about 960 kilometres (600 mi) to El-Obeid and was sold and bought twice before she arrived there. Over the course of twelve years (1877–1889) she was sold three more times.
'Bakhita' was not the name she received from her parents at birth. It is said that the trauma of her abduction caused her to forget her original name; she took one given to her by the slavers, bakhīta (بخيتة), Arabic for 'lucky' or 'fortunate'.[6][7][8] She was also forcibly converted to Islam.[9]
In El-Obeid, Bakhita was bought by a rich Arab 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 severely that she spent more than a month unable to move from her straw bed. Her fourth owner was a Turkish general, and she had to serve his mother-in-law and his wife, who were cruel to their slaves. Bakhita says: "During all the years I stayed in that house, 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."[10]
She once said that the most terrifying of all of her memories there was when she (along with other slaves) was marked by a process resembling both
By the end of 1882, El-Obeid came under the threat of an attack of
Conversion to Catholicism and freedom
Suakin on the Red Sea was besieged but remained in Anglo-Egyptian hands. Augusto Michieli acquired a large hotel there and decided to sell his property in Italy and to move his family to Sudan permanently. Selling his house and lands took longer than expected. By the end of 1888, Turina Michieli wanted to see her husband in Sudan even though land transactions were unfinished. Since the villa in Zianigo was already sold, Bakhita and Mimmina needed a temporary place to stay while Micheli went to Sudan without them. On the advice of their business agent Illuminato Cecchini, on 29 November 1888, Michieli left both in the care of the Canossian Sisters in Venice. There, cared for and instructed by the Sisters, Bakhita encountered Christianity for the first time. Grateful to her teachers, she recalled, "Those holy mothers instructed me with heroic patience and introduced me to that God who from childhood I had felt in my heart without knowing who He was."[17]
When Turina Michieli returned to take her daughter and maid back to Suakin, Bakhita firmly refused to leave. For three days, Michieli tried to force the issue, finally appealing to the attorney general of the
Canossian Sister
On 7 December 1893, Josephine Bakhita entered the novitiate of the Canossian Sisters and on 8 December 1896, she took her vows, welcomed by Cardinal Sarto. In 1902 she was assigned to the Canossian convent at Schio, in the northern Italian province of Vicenza, where she spent the rest of her life. Her only extended time away was between 1935 and 1939, when she stayed at the Missionary Novitiate in Vimercate (Milan); mostly visiting other Canossian communities in Italy, talking about her experiences and helping to prepare young sisters for work in Africa.[19] A strong missionary drive animated her throughout her entire life – "her mind was always on God, and her heart in Africa".[20]
During her 42 years in Schio, Bakhita was employed as the cook, sacristan, and portress (doorkeeper) and was in frequent contact with the local community. Her gentleness, calming voice, and the ever-present smile became well known and Vicenzans still refer to her as Sor Moretta ("little brown sister") or Madre Moretta ("black mother"). Her special charisma and reputation for sanctity were noticed by her order; the first publication of her story (Storia Meravigliosa by Ida Zanolini) in 1931, made her famous throughout Italy.[3][21] During the Second World War (1939–1945) she shared the fears and hopes of the townspeople, who considered her a saint and felt protected by her presence. Bombs did not spare Schio, but the war passed without a single casualty.
Her last years were marked by pain and sickness. She used a wheelchair but she retained her cheerfulness, and if asked how she was, she would always smile and answer: "As the Master desires." In the extremity of her last hours, her mind was driven back to her youth in slavery and she cried out: "The chains are too tight, loosen them a little, please!" After a while, she came round again. Someone asked her, "How are you? Today is Saturday," probably hoping that this would cheer her because Saturday is the day of the week dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus. Bakhita replied, "Yes, I am so happy: Our Lady... Our Lady!" These were her last audible words.[22]
Bakhita died at 8:10 PM on 8 February 1947. For three days, her body lay in repose while thousands of people arrived to pay their respects. Her remains were translated to the Church of the Holy Family of the Canossian convent of Schio in 1969.
Legacy and canonization
A young student once asked Bakhita: "What would you do, if you were to meet your captors?" Without hesitation, she replied: "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".[23]
The petitions for her
Bakhita's legacy is that transformation is possible through suffering. Her story of deliverance from physical slavery also symbolises all those who find meaning and inspiration in her life for their own deliverance from spiritual slavery.[14] In May 1992, news of her beatification was banned by Khartoum which Pope John Paul II visited nine months later.[25] On 10 February 1993, he solemnly honoured Bakhita on her own soil. "Rejoice, all of Africa! Bakhita has come back to you. The daughter of Sudan sold into slavery as a living piece of merchandise and yet still free. Free with the freedom of the saints."[26]
Josephine Margaret Bakhita is honored with a
In 2023, Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz centered his human-trafficking sculpture "Let the Oppressed Go Free" on Bakhita, depicting her opening a trapdoor as she frees human-trafficking victims who emerge from underground. The bronze sculpture was installed near her remains in the Italian city of Schio.[29]
See also
- Radio Bakhita in South Sudan
Citations
- ^ a b "Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018".
- Jebel Marrahand of the 785 m Jebel Agilerei. Although, on p. 37, she seems to place Olgossa about 40 km north-east of Nyala.
- ^ a b Davis, Cyprian (1986)."Black Catholic Theology: A Historical Perspective", Theological Studies 61 (2000), pp. 656–671.
- ^ Dagnino, pp. 23-25.
- ^ Bakhita in Dagnino, p. 37
- ^ O'Malley, p. 32.
- ^ Dagnino, pp. 29-32. Every slave was always given a new name. Bakhita herself never mentions this incident.
- ^ "Mother Josephine Bakhita". vatican.va. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
- ^ Murchison, p. 7
- ^ Bakhita in Dagnino, p. 49.
- ^ a b Burns and Butler, p. 53.
- ^ "Sudan Facial Scarification". 3 May 2011.
- ^ Dagnino, pp. 52-53
- ^ a b "AFROL Background Josephine Bakhita – an African Saint". afrol.com.
- ^ The Mahdist Revolution (1881-1898)], was an Islamic revolt against Ottoman-Egyptian rule of Sudan, begun by Islamic fundamentalist cleric Muhammad Ahmad. El-Obeid fell on 19 January 1883, Khartoum on 26 January 1885. The Mahdi Ahmad died on 22 June 1885.
- ^ "Canossian Daughters of Charity – Who We Are". canossiansisters.org. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-58617-689-1. Ignatius Press, San Francisco.
- ^ O'Malley, pp. 33-34.
- ^ a b Burns and Butler, p. 54.
- ^ Dagnino, p. 99
- ^ O'Malley, p. 34.
- ^ Dagnino, p. 104
- ^ Dagnino, p. 113.
- ^ Caritas Westminster, CARITAS BAKHITA HOUSE, accessed 25 October 2022
- ^ Hutchison, p. 7
- ^ John Paul II, Homily at the Eucharistic Concelebration in honour of Josephine Bakhita, Khartoum, 10 February 1993.
- ^ Benedict XVI, Encyclical "Spe salvi", sections 3-5, published 30 November 2007, accessed 25 October 2022
- ^ "Bakhita". satucket.com. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
- ^ "'Let the Oppressed Go Free' sculpture shines light on human trafficking - Vatican News". www.vaticannews.va. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
Bibliography
- African Online News (2000). Josephine Bakhita – an African Saint. 2000 October 14. Retrieved on 5 January 2010.
- Zanini, Roberto Italo (2009). Bakhita: From Slave to Saint. Ignatius Press. ISBN 9781586176891.
- Burns, Paul; Butler, Alban (2005). Butler's Lives of the Saints: Supplement of New Saints and Blesseds, Volume 1, pp. 52–55. Liturgical Press. ISBN 0-8146-1837-5.
- Carter, Rozann (2011). St. Josephine Bakhita and the Door to Holiness. Word On Fire, 2011. Retrieved on 7 February 2012.
- Copeland, M. Shawn (2009). St Josephine Bakhita. In: Perry, Susan ed. Holiness and the Feminine Spirit: the Art of Janet McKenzie. New York, pp. 113–118. ISBN 1-57075-844-1.
- Dagnino, Maria Luisa (1993). Bakhita Tells Her Story. Third edition, 142 p. Canossiane Figlie della Carità, Roma. Includes the complete text of Bakhita's autobiography (pp. 37–68).
- Davis, Cyprian (2000). Black Catholic Theology: A Historical Perspective. In: Theological Studies, 61, pp. 656–671.
- Hurst, Ryan. Mahdist Revolution (1881-1898). In: Online Encyclopedia of Significant People in Global African History. Retrieved on 8 June 2011.
- Hutchison, Robert (1999). Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei, St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-19344-0.
- Maynard, Jean Olwen (2002). Josephine Bakhita: The Lucky One. London, 76 p. ISBN 1-86082-150-2.
- Olmi, Véronique (2017). Bakhita. Ed. Albin Michel, Paris, 455 p. ISBN 978-2-226-39322-7.
- O'Malley, Vincent (2001). St. Josephine Bakhita. In: Saints of Africa, pp. 32–35. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. ISBN 0-87973-373-X.
- Roche, Aloysius (1964). Bakhita, Pearl of the Sudan. Verona Fathers, London, 96 p.
- Roullet, Hervé (2015). Joséphine Bakhita, l'esclave devenue sainte. Paris, Ed. Emmanuel, 174 p.
- Zanini, Roberto Italo (2000). Bakhita: A Saint For the Third Millennium. Orca Printing Company, 190 p.
- Zanolini, Ida (2000). Tale of Wonder: Saint Giuseppina Bakhita. 8th edition, 255 p. ISBN 2-7468-0294-5.
External links
- Biographies from the Vatican website: "Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947)", "Goodness and missionary zeal".
- A short biography from Patron Saints Index.
- A brief biography in Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Spe Salvi, paragraph 3.
- Bakhita: The Musical. Lyrics by Mookie Katigbak, music by Niel De Mesa. A Presentation of the Canossian Daughters of Charity. Manila 2000. Includes lyrics of 22 musical numbers.
- Two Suitcases: The Story Of St. Josephine Bakhita (2000). Directed by Paolo Damosso. An Italian movie with dubbed English track. 58 minutes.
- Bakhita: From Slave to Saint (2009). Directed by Giacomo Campiotti, scored by Stefano Lentini. In Italian with English subtitles. 190 (originally 207) minutes.