St. Josephine Bakhita: A Model of Living in Freedom
Michael Corsini’s St Josephine Bahkita (Original Charcoal).
Image used with permission of the artist.
As a human, I long to live in freedom. What does this mean? I desire to make decisions from a place of authentic love and not respond from the wounds of my past and present. Wounds that make me feel trapped—make me feel like I do not have a choice in the matter— with no control. For this reason, when I first heard about St. Josephine Bakhita, I was drawn to her: a woman who was kidnapped as a child, sold into slavery, and ultimately lived in the freedom of the Lord’s love as a religious sister.
I had to know more! Through the journey of reading the book Bakhita: From Slave to Saint by Roberto Italo Zanini, I realized that not only is she a beautiful witness of faith as an African saint, convert to Catholicism, and religious sister, she is also a model of living in freedom for adult children of divorce.
St. Bakhita was stolen from her home in Sudan, and named Bakhita, meaning “lucky” in Arabic, by her kidnappers. She was kept by multiple slave owners of which many were physically violent and abusive. She had scars on her body which she carried with her the rest of her life. She was trapped and she had no control over her external environment or even her daily tasks during this time of enslavement.
As a child, I did not have any control over my parents’ decision to divorce. I did not get to decide which days of the week I had visitation with my dad. I did not have control over which weekends I lived in my childhood home, and which weekends I lived in an apartment in a different part of town. I was powerless to the arguments between my parents, our family’s financial hardships, and the tension between my family members. I have scars not on my body, but in my memory from this time of division.
I felt bound. Bound by the chains of my life circumstance. Enslaved by my feelings of self-doubt, anger, sadness, and shame.
After reading the book about St. Bakhita’s journey from enslavement to sainthood, I found hope. As St. John Paul II said, “In St Josephine Bakhita we find a shining advocate of genuine emancipation.”
Emancipation… freedom from bondage. The Lord did deliver St. Bakhita out of slavery in a providential path that included being bought by an Italian consul, traveling to Italy, being gifted a crucifix, boldness of speech, and living with the Canossian sisters, the religious order she later joined. It was living with these sisters that St. Bakhita learned about the Catholic faith and decided to receive the Sacraments (cf. Code of Canon Law canons 840-1165). As a Canossian sister, St. Bakhita lived her life for the Lord in gratitude, humility and joy. This is described repeatedly by all who were touched by her words and actions.
The Lord gave her hope and joy—the Gospel freed St. Bakhita to live fully emancipated in her mind, body, and soul. As Father Divo Barsotti stated, “Bakhita is proof that Christianity can transform slaves, that is, people who have lost the sense of their own personhood, into a persons capable of unexpected strength.” (Zanini, p.159)
In my story, relationship with the Lord created freedom in my heart as it did in St. Bakhita’s story. Through the Life-Giving Wounds ministry, therapy, good community, and the Lord’s grace, I have been released to live unbound by the chains of powerlessness and division and to live within my true identity defined by the Lord. But I believe that deeper healing will continue to happen.
In Christianity, our belief in the transformation of personhood through the death and resurrection of Jesus allows the powerlessness, shame, and wounds of our parents’ divorce to be redeemed over and over again. As Jesus chooses to die for us in love each moment of each day, our story will continue to heal and become a place of life. St. Bakhita allowed her story of the Lord’s deliverance to be spread through her community, and now the world, as a beacon of hope and a model of living in freedom. This is the life that can come from allowing the Lord to be our strength: Sainthood.
About the author:
The author (publishing under her first name) is a daughter of Christ, a sister in the ACOD community, and an educator of young adults.
Reflection Questions for Small Groups or Individuals
Reflecting on your personal experience as a child of divorce or separation, what parallels do you see with St. Bakhita’s story?
What does it mean to live in freedom?
How has your relationship with the Lord created freedom in your heart?