![[Saint Josephine Bakhita]](saintj84.jpg "10kb jpg portrait of Saint Josephine, taken from a holy card, artist unknown, date unknown; if you have information on this image, please email me; please do not write to ask about the image")
Giuseppina Bakhita Madre Moretta Sister Moretta
She entered the Institute of Canossian Daughters of Charity in Venice, Italy in 1893, taking her vows on 8 December 1896 in Verona, and serving as a Canossian Sister for the next fifty years. Her gentle presence, her warm, amiable voice, and her willingness to help with any menial task were a comfort to the poor and suffering people who came to the door of the Institute. After a biography of her was published in 1930, she became a noted and sought after speaker, raising funds to support missions.
1 October 2000 by Pope John Paul II at Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy thought to be the only saint originally from Sudan
Bakhita The Musical Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate Canossian Daughters of Charity Google Directory Holy Angels Church, Chicago, Illinois, USA Kirken i Norge norwegian La Famiglia Canossiana italiano Maria.Org italiano Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson Vatican Biography
prayer for the canonization of Saint Josephine
O Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we thank you for the gifts of humility and charity which you bestowed on Saint Josephine Bakhita Deign to glorify her for her singular virtues and grant the prayers of those who invoke her, Amen
prayer for the virtues of Saint Josephine
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.
I have given everything to my Master: He will take care of me… The best thing for us is not what we consider best, but what the Lord wants of us!
I received the Sacrament of Baptism with such joy that only angels could describe…
O Lord, if I could fly to my people and tell them of your Goodness at the top of my voice: oh, how many souls would be won!
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…
The Lord has loved me so much: we must love everyone… we must be compassionate!
I can truly say that it was a miracle I did not die, because the Lord has destined me for greater things…
Mary protected me even before I knew her!
When a person loves another dearly, he desires strongly to be close to the other: therefore, why be afraid to die? Death brings us to God!
-assorted quotes by Saint Josephine Bakhita
Rejoice, all of Africa! Bakhita has come back to you: the daughter of the Sudan, sold into slavery as a living piece of merchandise, and yet still free: free with the freedom of the saints.
-Pope John Paul II
In our time, in which the unbridled race for power, money, and pleasure is the cuase of so much distrust, violence, and loneliness, Sister Bakhita has been given to us once more by the Lord as a universal sister, so that she can reveal to us the secret of true happiness: the Beatitudes....Here is a message of herioc goodness modeled on the goodness of the Heavenly Father.
-Pope John Paul II
One day I unwittingly made a mistake that incensed the master's son. He became furious, snatched me violently from my hiding place, and began to strike me ferociously with the lash and his feet Finally he left me half dead, completely unconscious. Some slaves carried me away and lay me on a straw mat, where I remained for over a month.
A woman skilled in this cruel art [tattooing] came to the general's house...our mistress stood behind us, whip in hand. The woman had a dish of white flour, a dish of salt and a razor... When she had made her patterns; the woman took the razor and made incisions along the lines. Salt was poured into each of the wounds... My face was spared, but 6 patterns were designed on my breasts, and 60 more on my belly and arms. I thought I would die, especially when salt was poured in the wounds...it was by a miracle of God I didn't die. He had destined me for better things.
-Saint Josephine Bakhita, describing some miseries during her time as a slave