The Feast Day of St. Bakhita is~ February 8th
The anguish of being kidnapped, sold and resold in the market place was so traumatic for this saint born in Sudan in 1869 that she even forgot the name she was given by her parents. In fact, she was named Bakhita by her kidnappers, a name that was to prove prophetic for it meant ‘fortune’. In deed it was the final purchase deal at the hands of an Italian consul named Calisto Legnani in Khartoum that saw this African flower bloom marvelously in Italy, in response to God’s grace, with the Daughters of Charity, where everyone still calls her ‘Mother Moretta’ (our Black Mother).
At the Consul’s residence, Bakhita experienced great peace, warmth of love and moments of joy albeit veiled by nostalgia for her own family whom, perhaps, she had lost forever. When the political situation forced the consul to return to Italy, Bakhita sought and obtained permission to go with him and a friend of his, a certain Mr. Augustine Michieli. At their arrival in Genoa, Legnani at the request of Michieli’s wife agreed to leave Bakhita with them . The young Bakhita happily settled in with the new family in Zianigo, near Mirano Veneto.
At the birth of their daughter Mimmina, Bakhita became their baby sitter and friend. The acquisition and management of a large hotel in Suakin on the Red Sea by Michieli compelled his wife to move to Suakin to help him leaving little Mimmina and Bakhita in the care of Cannosian Sisters of the Institute of Catechumens in Venice. It was there that Bakhita came to know about God, whom she had experienced in her heart without knowing who he was since childhood.
After several months in the catechumenate, Bakhita was initiated into the Catholic faith on 9th January 1890 as Josephine, a name which meant ‘increase’ in Hebrew. Overwhelmed, her big and expressive eyes sparkling, revealing deep emotions, she was often found kissing the baptisimal font and saying; ‘here i became a daughter of God.’
By the time Michieli returned from Africa to take Mimmina and Bakhita back to Italy, the latter had resolved to give herself to the Lord as a religious. Having come of age and thus enjoying the freedom of choice guaranteed by Italian law, Josephine expressed with unusual firmness and courage her desire to remain with the Cannosian Sisters and serve that God who had shown her so many proofs of his love.
On 8th December 1896, the young African was consecrated forever to God, whom she called by the sweet name of ‘the Master’. For the next 50 years, this humble Daughter of Charity, a true witness to the love of God, lived in Schio Community, involved in various services, cooking, sewing, embroidery and attending to the door. Her humility, simplicity and constant smile won the hearts of all she lived and came in contact with. Even as she grew older experiencing long painful bouts of sickness, mother Bakhita continued to witness to the Faith, to goodness and to Christian hope. To those who visited her and asked how she was, she would respond with a smile; ‘as the Master desires’.
She breathed her last on 8th February 1947 at the Cannosian convent in Schio, surrounded by the sisters, she was heard to exclaim: ‘Our Lady! Our Lady!’ her final smile testifying to her encounter with the Lord’s Mother.
Josephine Bakhita was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 17th May 1992 and canonized by him on 1st October 2000.
St. Bakhita Charity event held on Saturday June 1,2019 at St Marian Children Centre in South B.
