Slave, Convert, Woman Religious
Raised by a loving family; kidnapped at a young age; sold
into slavery; converting and becoming a Catholic Nun; sounds like something
from a fictional movie. And yet it is
the true story of Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita.
Bakhita was born in 1869 in Darfur, in western Sudan. She had a loving family with three brothers
and three sisters. Her uncle was the
village chief. As a young child,
sometime between the ages of seven to nine, she was kidnapped by Arab slave
traders. She endured tremendous
suffering at the hands of her abductors.
She was sold again and again as a slave.
Torn away from her family, enduring hardships and beatings at the hands
of her owners, ironically she was given the name of bakhita, Arabic for ‘lucky’.
In 1883, she was sold
to the Italian Vice Consul, Callisto Legnani.
He was a very kind man. For the first time in her life, she was show
kindness by her owners. When the Vice
Consul had to return to Italy two years later, Bakhita begged to be allowed to
go with him. In 1885 they arrived at the
Italian port of Genoa and were met by Mrs. Augusto Michieli. Callisto Legnani gave Bakhita as a present to Mrs.
Michieli. Bakhita lived with the
Michieli family for three years becoming a nanny to their daughter.
The Michieli family decided to move to Sudan. While they were selling their property and
making the arrangements, Bakhita was sent to live temporarily with the
Canossian Sister in Venice. When the
family came to take Bakhita to Sudan with them, she refused to return with them.
On November 29, 1889, an Italian court ruled
Italian law did not recognize slavery; therefore Bakhita had never legally been
a slave. She had never been on her own
before and for the first time was in control of her life. She chose to remain with the Canossian
community.
In 1890, Bakhita was baptized and confirmed by Archbishop
Sarto, the future Pope Pius X. She took the name Josephine. Three
years later she entered the Canossian Sisters.
She worked as a cook, sacristan and doorkeeper. She became known for her gentleness and her
smile. In the last years of her life
she was confined to a wheelchair but still maintained her cheerfulness. She forgave those who sold her into slavery and also those who abused her while she was a slave. She
died on February 8, 1947. She was declared
a saint on October 1, 2000. Pope Benedict XVI relates her life story in the beginning
of his encyclical letter, Spe Salvi.
