St. Josephine Bakhita Folder 2/8

I want to be a Saint.  I want my husband and my daughter and my parents, and siblings to be Saints.  Don't you want to be a Saint too?   I'm trying daily to live a holy life that is pleasing to God.  It's hard, but I think it's doable !  This next Saint certinly inspires me.


St. Josephine Bakhita -- February 8

I love it when I can find actual photographs of a saint (like above and below)! 

The one below right was taken at Saint Josephine's First Profession of vows.

coloring page drawn by Waltzing Matilda HERE.  Faith Keepers CD, HERE, also has a beautiful St. Josephine coloring page.

The Saint of Humility, Charity and Hope

Quotes of St. Josephine Bakhita:


Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God.


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.

The Lord has loved me so much: we must love everyone… we must be compassionate!


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!

St. Josephine Bakhita was born in Sudan in 1869. This African flower, who knew the anguish of kidnapping and slavery, bloomed marvelously in Italy, in response to God's grace, with the Daughters of Charity, where everyone still calls her "Mother Moretta" (our Black Mother").

Bakhita was not the name she received from her parents at birth. The fright and the terrible experience she went through made her forget the name her parents gave her.  Bakhita, which means "lucky one", was the name given to her by her kidnappers.

Sold in the markets several times, she experienced the physical and moral humiliations and sufferings of slavery. Ultimately, Bakhita was bought by an Italian official, and later borrowed by a friend of the official.  For the first time since the day she was kidnapped, she was treated with love and cordiality. In the consul's residence Bakhita experienced peace, warmth and moments of joy.
Eventually, Bakhita was sent to a convent. It was there that that Bakhita came to know about God, whom "she had experienced in her heart without knowing who He was" since she was a child. "Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars, I said to myself: who could be the Master of these beautiful things? And I felt a great desire to see him, to know him and to pay him homage...".

At the convent, Bakhita received the sacraments of Christian initiation and was given a new name, Josephine.  When her master returned to the convent to collect her, Bakhita courageously expressed her desire to remain with the Canosian Sisters and to serve that God who had shown her so many proofs of His love.  Bakhita remained in the convent and experienced the call to be a religious and to give herself to the Lord.   Josephine Bakhita was consecrated forever to God, whom she called by the sweet name of "the Master!"  There she served Our Lord for 50 years.

She had many painful years of sickness as she aged.  To those who asked how she was, she would respond with a smile: "As the Master desires."  During her agony, she relived the terrible days of her slavery and more than once begged the nurse who assisted her: "Please, loosen the chains...they are heavy!"  It was Blessed Mary who freed her from pain.  Josephine Bakhita's last words were:  "Our Lady! Our Lady!" and her final smile testified to her encounter with the Lord's Mother.  Mother Bakhita died on February 8, 1947, and was canonized in 2000.

The best thing for us is not what we consider best,

        but what the Lord wants of us !      

                                         

St. Josephine Bakhita, pray for us !

Click HERE to see a listing of all my Saints and Feast Day folders for the liturgical year, or click on the Archangels folder at the top right of my sidebar. 

Also, Xhonane at Familia Catolica has a similar post HERE listing the liturgical folders she has made thus far.