BAKHITA was born in the region of SUDAN - AFRICA in 1869,
As a girl, this African flower knew the anguish of Mavery and kidnapping. She was stolen by slave-traders and cruelly tortured. In this traumatic experience, the little girl, could not remember her name and was re-named BAKHITA, which means "The Lucky One".
After being sold and resold in the markets of El-obeid and Khartoum, she was finally bought by an Italian Consul. For the first time now, Bakhita experienced being loved and cared for, as a person. At her insistent request, she went with Italian Consul, to Italy. She was then gifted to a couple that had a little daughter. Through them she came to know the Canossian Daughters of Charity in Venice.
She asked to be baptized as a Catholic. She then asked to offer herself totally to God, as a Canossian Sister. On 8th December 1896, she pronounced her First Vows of Poverty. Chastity and Obedience.
Simple, yet humble, she was full of love for God and neighbour. She was engaged in unassuming duties in the Canossian Convent. She was a portress, welcoming little girls and their mothers, who came to love this gentle, 'black sister'. She worked for some time in the kitchen, serving her sisters with attention and love. She was excellent in embroidery and served as a Sacristan in the chapel.
On the 8th of February 1947, she breathed her last at the age of 78, in Schio-Italy. She was declared Blessed on 17th May 1992, and publicly acknowledged a Saint in Rome on 1st October, 2000.
Bakhita is revered as a Saint, because she is a "Universal Sister. She became holy by doing every little thing with great love for God and for her neighbor. She was always cheerful and smiling, even when afflicted with arthritis. She never harboured thoughts of revenge or resentment against her captors, Infact, she prayed ardently for them and thanked God that through her kidnapping, He had brought her into the Catholic faith.
St. Bakhita, Pray for us.