Saint of the day and Feast days.

[Patricia]

We must faithfully keep what we have promised. If through human weakness we fail, we must always without delay arise again by means of holy penance, and give our attention to leading a good life and to dying a holy death. May the Father of all mercy, the Son by his holy passion, and the Holy Spirit, source of peace, sweetness and love, fill us with their consolation. Amen.

-- Saint Colette of Corbie

[Shin]

'If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured.'

St. Colette

[odhiambo]

'If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured.'

St. Colette

I am so afraid of suffering 

[odhiambo]

8 February

Today is the Memorial of
Saint Josephine Bakhita
Among many other Saints

[Shin]

I know what you mean.. I keep on thinking I have to remember that bearing suffering bears Christ in oneself all the more.. which is a cause for happiness. . . and makes Heaven all the happier forever.

[Shin]

8 February

Today is the Memorial of
Saint Josephine Bakhita
Among many other Saints

I see she has some moving quotes! Have you found them yet, odhiambo? 

[odhiambo]

Josephine Bakhita.
Canossian Sister.
Former Slave.
Bakhita was born in 1869 at Oglassa, Darfur Western Sudan, a mountainous area bordering Chad.
She was born in a happy family. She had three brothers and three sisters. Her father was reasonably wealthy and owned many heads of cattle and sheep. They had a large field where food crops were cultivated.
Bakhita’s father was related to the tribal chief and as such, was held in high esteem by the tribesmen.
Bakhita was a sweet child, the joy and delight not just of her family but of the entire village.
She loved nature even as a child. Her early child hood was happy and carefree. She did not know what suffering meant. This state of affairs, however did not last for long.
At the age of about six, Bakhita came face to face with pain and sorrow in the form of slave merchants.
 The slavers came to their village and took away many children. Her eldest sister was among those kidnapped.
Three years later, while outside the village with an older friend, Bakhita herself was abducted by two Arab men, Slave traders. Over the course of the next eight years, Bakhita was sold and resold five times in the markets of El Obeid and Khartoum. The trauma of her abduction caused her to forget her own name; she took one given to her by the slavers, Bakhita, Arabic for lucky. She was also forcibly converted to Islam. She was just about eight or nine years when abducted.
Bakhita suffered much brutality during her captivity. She was employed as a domestic in a wealthy family, but after offending one of her owner's sons, because she accidentally broke a vase, the son beat her so severely that she spent a month unable to move from a straw bed.
She later recalled that her most terrifying memory was of her fourth owner, an Ottoman Army officer, having her (in common with all his other slaves) marked as "his" by a process resembling both scarification and tattooing. Her memoirs, dictated to another nun and written in Italian many years later, recall that a dish of white flour, a dish of salt and a blade were brought by a woman, who drew patterns on her skin and then cut deeply along the lines before filling the wounds with salt and flour to ensure permanent scarring. More than 114 marks were cut into her breasts, belly, and arms!
Her fifth and final owner was an Italian diplomat, Callisto Legnani. The diplomat was a kindly soul; he bought Bakhita with the intention to free her. Upon learning that the family was being forced out of Sudan, Bakhita begged to go with them. Legani and a friend, Augusto Michieli, brought her to a town near Genoa, Italy, where she became nanny to the Michieli's daughter, Mimmina. In 1888 or 1889 Bakhita and Mimmina were left in the custody of the Canossian Sisters in Venice while the Michielis moved to the Red Sea on business. In 1890 she was baptised with the name "Josephine Margarita Afortunada", receiving communion for the first time by the cardinal patriarch of Venice.
When the Michielis returned to collect her and their daughter, Bakhita did not want to leave. Mrs. Michieli tried to force the issue, but the superior of the school that Bakhita and Mimmina had attended in Venice complained to the authorities. An Italian court ruled that since Sudan had outlawed slavery before Bakhita's birth, and because in any case Italian law did not recognize slavery, Bakhita had never in fact been a slave. Bakhita had now reached the age of maturity, and she found herself in control of her own destiny for the first time in her life and chose to remain with the Canossians..
In 1896 she joined the sisters permanently in Venice, and, in 1902, she was assigned to a house in Schio in the northern Italian province of Vicenza, where she spent the rest of her life. Her only extended time away from Schio was between 1935 and 1938, a period she spent in helping prepare young sisters for work in Africa.
During her 45 years in Schio, Josephine was usually employed as portress (door keeper) of her house, and so was in frequent contact with the local community. Her gentleness, calming voice, and ever-present smile became well known and Vicenzans still refer to her as Sor Moretta or Madre Moretta. Her special charisma and reputation for sanctity were noticed by her order, and she was instructed to publish her memoirs and to give talks about her experiences; these made her famous throughout Italy. Her last years were marked by pain and sickness, as she was confined to a wheelchair, but she retained her cheerfulness, and if asked how she was, would always smile and answer "as the Master desires".
In the extremity of her last days her mind was driven back to the years of her slavery and in her delirium she would cry out "Please, loosen the chains ... they are so heavy".
Bakhita died on February 8, 1947. For three days her body lay on display while thousands of people arrived to pay their respects.
The calls for her canonization began immediately, and the process commenced in 1959, only twelve years after her death. On December 1, 1978, Pope John Paul II declared Josephine Venerabilis, the first step towards canonization. On May 17, 1992, she was declared Blessed and given February 8 as her feast day. On October 1, 2000, she was canonized and became Saint Josephine Bakhita. News of her declaration as a saint was banned in Khartoum.
She is venerated as a modern African saint and as a saint with a special relevance to slavery and oppression. She has been adopted as the patron saint of Sudan.
Saint Josephine Bakhita,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

8 February

Today is the Memorial of
Saint Josephine Bakhita
Among many other Saints

I see she has some moving quotes! Have you found them yet, odhiambo? 

Not a one!
Please post some for us.

[odhiambo]

8 February

Today is the Memorial of
Saint Josephine Bakhita
Among many other Saints

I see she has some moving quotes! Have you found them yet, odhiambo? 

I went searching Shin.
This is what I found:
'If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and Religious today… The Lord has loved me so much: we must love everyone… we must be compassionate!"
Saint Josephine Bakhita

[Shin]

See! Truly impressive no? So moving!

'Mary protected me even before I knew her!'

St. Josephine Bakhita

'When a person loves another dearly, he desires strongly to be close to the other: therefore, why be afraid to die?'

St. Josephine Bakhita

'Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars, I said to myself, ‘Who could be the Master of these beautiful things?’ I felt a great desire to see him, to know him and to pay him homage.'

St. Josephine Bakhita

[odhiambo]

See! Truly impressive no? So moving!

Yes, and thought provoking!

[odhiambo]

Shin, this is definataly not the place but I do not want to start a threat.
When you pray to God the Father, how do you picture Him.
I have no problem depicting the Man God or the Holy Spirit, but God the Father is a little problematic.

[Shin]

Why not start a thread? It's a good topic.

Hmm. I rarely try to picture the Father.. I guess what little image I have that way is from a few holy cards.. normally it is only Christ I think of visually.. In those rare cases when I do.. he is an old, venerable man.. In fact there is one verse of scripture that I was reading just the other day..

'As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was Ancient of Days took His seat; His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was like fiery flames, its wheels were like a burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.'

Daniel 7:9-10

'Ancient of Days'. . .

How do you think of Him?

[Shin]

I tend to think of 'the Father' more as a grandfather! 

[odhiambo]

Why not start a thread? It's a good topic.

Hmm. I rarely try to picture the Father.. I guess what little image I have that way is from a few holy cards.. normally it is only Christ I think of visually.. In those rare cases when I do.. he is an old, venerable man.. In fact there is one verse of scripture that I was reading just the other day..

'As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was Ancient of Days took His seat; His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was like fiery flames, its wheels were like a burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.'
Daniel 7:9-10
'Ancient of Days'. . .
How do you think of Him?

I try to picture Him but the picture I form is that of flowing white robes, long white hair and beard, walking serenly in a lovely garden on seated. In Genesis we read of Him in the form of fire, strong wind, clouds, etc.

[Patricia]

The story of St Josephine Bakhita brought tears to my eyes! How much gentleness and love in the face of suffering. She could have turned into a bitter woman but forgave her captors. She obviously was traumatised till the very end.
St Bakhita pray for us!!