Readings

February 8: [Bakhita (Josephine Margaret Bakhita), Monastic, 1947]

The Collect of the Day

Bakhita (Josephine Margaret Bakhita)

O God of Love, who delivered your servant Josephine Margaret Bakhita from the bondage of slavery to the true freedom of your service; Grant to the wounded your healing grace in mind, body, and spirit and to your church the zeal to combat exploitation and slavery in all its forms; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Bakhita (Josephine Margaret Bakhita)

O God of Love, who didst deliver thy servant Josephine Margaret Bakhita from the bondage of slavery to the true freedom of thy service; Grant to the wounded thy healing grace in mind, body, and spirit and to thy church the zeal to combat exploitation and slavery in all its forms; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan. At the age of seven, she was kidnapped, and sold into slavery. The girl was so traumatized by the experience that she was unable to remember her name. Bakhita means “fortunate one” - a name given her by the same slave raiders that forcefully removed her from her family and village. Even as a child, she said that she experienced God in her heart without ever having been evangelized. She said, “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.”

Although technically illegal, the entire Sudan region in the late 19th century was a raiding ground for various groups of armed slave traders. Enslaved for 12 years, she endured untold hardship and suffering. She was resold several times, finally in 1883 to the Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan. After he gave her to his friend Augusto Michieli, she went with him and his family to Italy where she worked as a nanny for their young daughter, Mimmina. Accompanying the girl to Venice’s Institute of the Catechumens, Josephine found herself drawn to Christianity. She was baptized as Josephine in 1890.

The hardships in her life meant that Josephine did not easily express her joy. But she often expressed the joy she experienced through Christ at the font where she was baptized, kissing it and saying: “Here I became one of the daughters of God!”

Josephine entered religious life in 1896 as a Canossian Daughter of Charity. In 1902, she went to the city of Schio (northeast of Verona), where she served her religious community. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters’ school and by the local citizens. By the end of her life, Josephine was renowned across Italy for her loving, spiritual wisdom.

Josephine knew the reality of being a slave, an immigrant, and a spiritual seeker. Even today, countless children, women, and men continue to be victimized, and trafficked into slavery. Josephine serves as an inspiration to those who work to free girls and women from oppression and violence, and to return them to their dignity in the full exercise of their rights. Not only is she a model of resistance, Josephine also reminds us of our obligation to strive against the evil and injustice of human trafficking and uphold the dignity of every human person.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

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Psalm

1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, *abides under the shadow of the Almighty.

2He shall say to the Lord, “You are my refuge and my stronghold, *my God in whom I put my trust.”

3He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter *and from the deadly pestilence.

4He shall cover you with his pinions, and you shall find refuge under his wings; *his faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.

5You shall not be afraid of any terror by night, *nor of the arrow that flies by day;

6Of the plague that stalks in the darkness, *nor of the sickness that lays waste at mid-day.

7A thousand shall fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, *but it shall not come near you.

8Your eyes have only to behold *to see the reward of the wicked.

9Because you have made the Lord your refuge, *and the Most High your habitation,

10There shall no evil happen to you, *neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.

11For he shall give his angels charge over you, *to keep you in all your ways.

12They shall bear you in their hands, *lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13You shall tread upon the lion and the adder; *you shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.

14Because he is bound to me in love, therefore will I deliver him; *I will protect him, because he knows my Name.

15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; *I am with him in trouble; I will rescue him and bring him to honor.

16With long life will I satisfy him, *and show him my salvation.

Gospel

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Luke 18:1–8

1 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Colossians 1:24–29

24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.