Not a Distant Memory: St. Josephine Bakhita

 

 Not a Distant Memory 

We tend to think of slavery as a distant memory. Maybe an artifact of the antebellum South in the United States, or a vanished institution of the Roman Empire. St. Josphine Bakhita, whose feast day is today (February 8th), was with us much more recently. She died in 1947, less than twenty years before I was born. She became a slave in the late nineteenth century, and not just in North Africa and the Turkish Empire.  Her last “owner” lived in the modern, enlightened nation of Italy. She only achieved her freedom through legal action launched on her behalf.

St. Josephine Bakhita 1869-February 8th, 1947

Patron Saint of Sudan and of Human Trafficking Victims

You can read a full account of St. Josephine Bakhita’s amazing and inspiring life here. Here’s the short version. She was born in the Darfur region of Sudan in 1869. Her uncle was a tribal chief, and her first eight years were easy and untroubled. Her life changed dramatically when Arab slavers captured her in her eighth or ninth year. She experienced a series of masters over the next dozen years. Her treatment varied from (relatively) benign to shockingly brutal. At last, she found herself in Italy – but still a slave.

 She Chose to Remain 

When her Mistress went on a trip (to Sudan, as it happens), Josephine didn’t go, but was entrusted to the care of the Conossian Sisters in Venice. This was a turning point for the future saint, as decisive as her initial enslavement:

While she was in the custody of the sisters, she came to learn about God . . . She was deeply moved by her time with the sisters and discerned a call to follow Christ.

When her mistress returned from Sudan, Josephine refused to leave. Her mistress spent three days trying to persuade her to leave the sisters, but Josephine remained steadfast. This caused the superior of the institute for baptismal candidates among the sisters to complain to Italian authorities on Josephine’s behalf.

The case went to court, and the court found that slavery had been outlawed in Sudan before Josephine was born, so she could not be lawfully made slave. She was declared free.

For the first time in her life, Josephine was free and could choose what to do with her life. She chose to remain with the Canossian Sisters.

 As The Master Desires 

She didn’t choose to stay with the sisters simply because it was familiar or convenient. She chose to live out a true and deep commitment rooted in the love of Jesus Christ. In spite of the cruelty and suffering she had encountered, she was a bright light to her fellow sisters, “known for her gentle voice and smile.” She was completely free of resentment and bitterness. In fact,

When speaking of her enslavement, she often professed she would thank her kidnappers. For had she not been kidnapped, she might never have come to know Jesus Christ and entered His Church.

Honestly, how many of us could do the same in her situation? St. Josephine is a living example to all of us that it is always possible to bless those who persecute us, as Jesus tells us to do (Matthew 5:44). She shows us how “in everything God works for good with those who love him” (Romans 8:28):

In her later years, she began to suffer physical pain and was forced to use a wheelchair. But she always remained cheerful. If anyone asked her how she was, she would reply, “As the master desires.”

 The Lord is the Only Master 

St. Josephine Bakhita is a reminder that slavery, real literal slavery, is not just a distant memory. But she can also show us the way out of slavery to sin. This is really a crueler and harsher form of slavery, because it can enslave us for eternity. Bob Dylan famously sang:

You've got to serve somebody
it might be the Devil, it might be the Lord
but you've got to serve somebody.

As it happens, the Lord is the only Master who can really set us free.

Featured image top of page: 19th Century engraving of the Zanzibar slave market.