St. Josephine Bakhita
Born: c. 1869
Died: February 8, 1947
Feast day: February 8
Patron saint of: Sudan, South Sudan, and human trafficking survivors
Josephine Bakhita knew suffering. Slave traders kidnapped her from her home in Darfur when she was 8 years old and brought her to central Sudan. As a teenager Josephine endured brutal physical abuse at the hands of her owners. Scars covering her body told the story.
In 1883 she was sold to the Italian consul in Sudan. A few years later the consul took her to Italy and gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli. She soon became a nanny for Michieli’s young daughter, whom she accompanied to Venice’s Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. This first experience of Christianity hooked Josephine. She fought to stay at the convent rather than return to Sudan—and won. Josephine, scars and all, emerged from the waters of baptism with a newfound freedom in body and spirit.
She lived out the rest of her days at the convent. Later in life Josephine told a student that she would “kneel and kiss their hands” if she were to ever encounter her former slave owners. Through unspeakable trauma, Josephine witnesses to the transformative power of forgiveness.
More about St. Josephine Bakhita:
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Image: By Unknown author - caption “Virgin of the Institute of the Daughters of the Canossiane Charity,” Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
