FEAST DAY: FEBRUARY 8
As a child, this first Sudanese saint was kidnapped by Arab slave traders. A Muslim owner named her Bakhita, meaning “lucky”; other owners included an Arab chieftain and a Turkish general. She endured years of cruelty, even torture, before being sold to an Italian consul who planned to free her. He took her to Italy, where she worked as a nanny for another family. In 1889 she won her freedom in court. She was baptized Josephine, entered the Canossian Sisters and served her order in Italy for more than 50 years as a cook, seamstress and doorkeeper. Her feast day, Feb. 8, is the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking.
Photo: An image of Sudanese St. Josephine Margaret Bakhita is carried in procession during a prayer service led by Pope Francis for peace in South Sudan and Congo in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in November 2017. (CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters)