A chapter of darkness
In Sudan, in 1878, that 9-year-old girl was surprised by two men who blocked her path and pointed a gun at her. Then they take her with them, like stealing a chicken from a henhouse. That day, as if she were in a nightmare, the African girl forgot everything, even her own name, as well as that of her parents, with whom she lived.
Slavery
The then Muslim merchants decided to rename it. “Bakhita,” they called her, “fortunate.” An irony for that girl who had now become a human commodity and passed from hand to hand in the slave markets. One day, while she was serving a Turkish general, a “tattoo” was carved on her body with a knife, 114 cuts and the wounds covered with salt to remain evident.
The light
Bakhita survived everything, until a ray of light hit hell. An Italian officer, Callisto Legnami, bought her from the traffickers. That day, Bakhita-Fortunada put on a dress for the first time, entered a house, the door was closed and 10 years of unspeakable brutality were behind her. The oasis lasted two years, when the Italian, who treated her with affection, was forced to repatriate under the pressure of the Mahdist revolution. Bakhita will remember that moment: “I dared to ask him to take me to Italy with him”. Callisto accepted and, in 1884, Bakhita landed on the peninsula where, for the little ex-slave, an unimaginable fate awaited her. There, she became a friend and also nanny to Alice, the couple’s youngest daughter, who was being born.
God’s Providence
As, according to Romans 8:28, “Everything works together for the good of those who love God”, in 1888, the couple who hosted it traveled. For 9 months, Bakhita and Alice are entrusted to the Canossian Sisters of Venice. She meets Jesus, learns the catechism and, on January 9, 1890, Bakhita receives Baptism with the name Giuseppina Margherita Fortunata. On the same occasion, she also receives the sacrament of Confirmation and First Communion.
Saint Bakhita is the patron saint of slaves and intercessor of the kidnapped
Option for religious life
At the age of 24, in 1893, he entered the novitiate of the Canossianas. Three years later, he takes his vows. For 45 years, she was cook, sacristan and, above all, a porter at the convent of Schio, where she acted with kindness. Affectionately, she called God her boss, “my boss”, she said. She was known to many for the joy and peace she communicated.
chocolate sister
It is said that, because Bakhita lived in the European country and amidst the reality of people with light skin color, children at the time affectionately called her “chocolate sister”. This is also because she distributed sweetness in smiles and attitudes.
I kiss the hands of the slaves
Easter
For the entire convent of Schio it was a day of mourning when Giuseppina Bakhita died on February 8, 1947 from pneumonia. Her life was truly ‘fortunate’ and she will say so herself: “If I met those slavers who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel down to kiss their hands, because if all that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be a Christian and religious now.”
Devotion
Saint John Paul II canonized her on October 1, 2000. Bakhita then became a saint of the Canossian Family (Congregation founded by Saint Magdalene of Canossa). The sons and daughters of Charity (Canossians) were born in Italy. After going on missions to several countries, the Canossians also settled in Brazil in 1948. Today, there are more than 2 thousand sisters in several countries, including Sudan. In Brazil, there are 45 sisters.
My prayer
“Saint Bakhita, your name was written on the palms of God’s hands at your Baptism, so I ask for your help in every situation in which I was kidnapped from myself. They cover my eyes from hope and, sometimes, I don’t see horizons. Help me, with your intercession with Jesus, so that I receive new clothes for my soul and that I can be free. Amen.”
Saint Bakhita, pray for us!
Other saints celebrated on February 8:
- Holy martyrs monks from the Die monastery in Istanbul, Turkey, who were cruelly murdered.
- Saint Jacuto, abbot, monastery builder
- Saint Honoratus, bishop in Milan, Italy
- Saint Nicetius, bishop in France
- Saint Stephen, abbot, founder of the Order of Grandmont, in France
- Saint Jerome Emiliano, founder of the Congregation of Clerics Regular of Somasca, Italy
Sources:
- Canossianas – Congregation of Sons and Daughters of Charity
- vatican.va
- Roman Martyrology
- Book “Daily Saints” – José Leite, SJ
Research and Writing:
Fernando Fantini – Community