St. Josephine Bakhita
One
Kidnapped
Bakhita (though that was not her given name) was born in 1869 in Darfur, Sudan. She was born into a family that was Anamist. They believed there was a supreme being who was distant and did not care about the daily affairs of people. The world and the affairs of people were governed by spirits that inhabited the mountains and rivers and animals.
As a little child, she would observe the sky at night, the sun in the morning, and all the other natural phenomena. Filled with wonder, she said, “Who could possibly be the master of these beautiful things? And I felt a great desire to see him, to know him, and to give him homage.” And she also said, “In the morning I watched the sun as it was born and in the evening as it set. And I thought that if it was beautiful, how much more beautiful must be the one who had made it.”
In 1874 her older sister was kidnapped by Muslim slave traders. Then in 1876, just seven years old, she too was kidnapped. They gave her a new name, Bakhita, which means “Lucky” in Arabic. She was bought and sold three times to unimaginably cruel masters who made her serve their families twenty hours a day.
And worse, Bakhita was verbally, psychologically and physically tortured every single day, whipped until she bled, beaten and cut with a razor more than one hundred and eighteen times. However, God also preserved her from rape and preserved her virginity.
How could a person survive being kidnapped, taken from their family whom they would never see again, serve twenty hours a day, and be treated worse than an animal, let alone the constant torture every single day for seven years. What physical, mental, and emotional wounds she must have had. How could anyone be healed of those wounds?
Two
Ransomed
In the 1880s, Italians began business ventures in Sudan. Many of these Catholic businessmen would ransom slaves, buy them from their slave masters, and make them paid servants. Then take them to Italy where they were set free. In 1882, Bakhita was ransomed by an Italian businessman, Calisto Legnani. He took Bakhita to Italy and entrusted her to an Italian couple, Augusto and Turina Michieli, who lived near Venice, where Bakhita served as their nanny.
In 1888, this couple moved to Sudan to start a new business venture, leaving their young daughter and Bakhita in the care of a religious order, the Canossians. The next year, 1889, the Michieli’s returned to get their daughter and then go back to Sudan permanently. Bakhita chose to stay with the Canossian Sisters.
The Michieli’s estate was managed by a man named Illuminato Checchini, who was close friends with the Cardinal of Venice, Giuseppe Sarto, who became Pope St. Pius X. Checchini was the first person to take a personal interest in her Christian formation. He gave her a Crucifix and as he gave it to her he kissed it with devotion, then explained that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had died for us. That Jesus had come to set everyone free from every form of slavery, especially from slavery to sin and death.
He was the one who invited Michieli’s maid, against the wishes of her mistress, to teach Bakhita how to pray. He is also the one who accompanied Bakhita along the successive stages in her journey of faith, always ready to help her whenever the need arose.
On January 9th, 1890, Bakita was Baptized, Confirmed, and received her first Holy Communion. In 1893, she entered the novitiate for the Canossian sisters and Checcinini paid the dowry. In 1895, after two and a half years of preparation, Bakhita became a nun and lived out her vocation for fifty-one years as a Canossian sister.
Bakita died on February 8th, 1947 and was canonized a Saint on October 1st, 2000.
Three
Transformation
St. Josephine Bakhita’s life stands as a direct challenge to the modern tendency to define oneself by wounds, trauma, or victimhood. In contrast to a culture that often uses suffering as an excuse for stagnation, entitlement, or resentment, Bakhita shows us that suffering, when entrusted to God, can become the very means of transformation and sanctification.
Today, many people use their wounds as a way to justify avoiding responsibility (“I can’t move forward because of what happened to me”), demanding reparation from others (“You owe me because I was wronged”), and remaining trapped in anger and resentment (“I will never forgive, because I was hurt”).
This mindset leads to paralysis rather than growth. It turns pain into a permanent identity rather than something to be healed and transcended. With this mindset, people remain stuck in their wounds, seeing themselves as victims of fate, society, or history instead of victors in Christ.
St. Josephine Bakhita shows us the way to be healed by God’s Providence. Bakhita endured some of the worst suffering imaginable, being kidnapped, enslaved, beaten, and treated as property. Yet, instead of allowing this to define her life negatively, she responded with forgiveness, gratitude, and joy. She did not deny her suffering. She remembered it. But she saw it in light of divine providence.
She once said, “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 had not happened, I would not be a Christian and religious today.”
This response is radical! She does not say, “They didn’t really hurt me” or “It wasn’t that bad.” She acknowledged the evil, but refused to let it control her. She saw it as part of a larger divine plan that ultimately led her to Christ.
Four
The Paron
Bakhita was healed by trusting in Divine Providence. She always referred to God as her “Paron,” a Venetian word for Master or Lord. Divine Providence guides absolutely everything, big and little, for the good of those who love Him. We can thwart God’s Providence by sin, but if we turn back to God, He transforms even our failures into the greatest good. Nothing happens unless God wills or allows it. He wills or allows good and bad things in our life for one reason only – to heal, perfect and transform us to be like Himself.
So, no matter what happens, with God as our Father and Mary as our Mother, we are safe. Trust in Providence is strengthened through experience, not just belief.
Many accept God's Providence intellectually but still feel unsafe because they have not yet experienced it. Bakhita didn’t just tell herself she was safe, her life proved it to her. Instead of giving in to fear, she acted on the truth that God was her Paron, her true Master and Protector.
Healing comes not only from believing but from experiencing that God is truly in control. Like Bakhita, when we face fearful situations, we must remind ourselves that, with God, we are always safe, no matter what happens. Each time we step forward in trust and see that we were truly safe, we gain real evidence that God cares for us, and our confidence in Him grows.
This is a kind of spiritual exposure therapy: acting as if we are truly safe in God's hands. Facing fears with trust in His Providence. Remaining in discomfort while reminding ourselves of His care. Over time, we learn through experience that we are truly safe in God’s hands.
Five
Overcoming Anxiety
Anxiety arises when we perceive danger, fear sets in, and our fight-or-flight response activates. If it remains stuck, we develop anxiety and pain. The root cause of anxiety is a failure to trust in Divine Providence. The solution, as Bakhita shows us, is to trust completely in God.
We can break the danger-fear-anxiety cycle by constantly reminding ourselves: God is my Father and Mary is my Mother. In their hands, no matter what happens, I am safe. This truth calms the nervous system and eliminates anxiety at its root. Bakhita would say, “I am definitely loved. And whatever happens to me, I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good.”
Every time anxiety arises, tell yourself: I am in God's hands. When you believe you are safe, your mind and body will follow, and anxiety will fade. Bakhita would say, “I give everything to the Paron, and he takes care of me—he is obliged to.”
The soul learns to trust not just through reason but through experience. Fear creates a false perception, “I am unsafe.” Divine Providence teaches the opposite, it says, “No matter what happens, I am in the hands of God, and I am safe.”
But trust grows through real-life proof. Bakhita learned she was safe by entrusting herself to God and letting go of fear. Likewise, we must step into the unknown, act despite fear, and let God prove His faithfulness. The more we do this, the more we gain experiential evidence that we are secure in God’s hands, and anxiety naturally fades.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Follow in the footsteps of St. Josephine Bakhita by setting aside whatever has happened in the past and thanking God for His love and protection.
When you’re overcome with anxiety repeat to yourself, “No matter what happens, I am in the hands of God, and I am safe.”