From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On the Evils of Curiosity [II]   
      
   Do not court the favour of powerful patrons, nor popular favour, not   
   even the particular affection of friends. All these things are   
   distractions, and fill the heart with uncertainty. If you will but   
   await My coming, and throw open the door of your heart, I Myself will   
   speak to you, and reveal to you My secrets. Be ready; watch and pray.   
   Above all, be humble.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 24   
      
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   February 8th - St. Josephine Bakhita   
   (1869-1947)   
      
   Even in eras and nations where slavery has been practiced, the Church   
   has considered those baptized to be spiritually free. As St. Paul   
   wrote to the Galatians, “There does not exist among you Jew or Greek,   
   slave or freeman, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus.” (3:28).   
      
   Thus slavery, both ancient and modern, has not prevented Christians   
   from reaching high positions in the Church, or from being proclaimed   
   saints. For instance, Pope St. Pius I (2nd century) and Pope St.   
   Callistus (third century) were former slaves, as were the martyrs St.   
   Blandina of Lyons (2nd century) and St. Felicitas of Carthage (fourth   
   century). All four of these were white. But black slaves have likewise   
   been canonized: St. Benedict the Moor and St. Martin de Porres, for   
   instance.   
      
   On May 17, 1992, Pope John Paul II declared “blessed” a black nun who   
   had been enslaved in her native Sudan when a small child. Her   
   experiences as a slave, her conversion to Catholicism, and her saintly   
   life as a nun make a fascinating story.   
      
   Born in 1869 in what is now southern Sudan, East Africa, Blessed   
   Josephine (Giuseppina) spent her first six years in her native   
   village. One day, however, when she happened to walk a little outside   
   the village boundaries, she was kidnapped by slave traders.   
      
   By 1875, the trade in black slaves had been largely phased out in   
   African law. Egypt, which then exercised political control over the   
   Sudan, had lately signed a treaty declaring slavery illegal. But   
   abuses die hard, and “bootleg” enslavement still continued. To the   
   little six-year-old, the experience of kidnapping was so traumatic   
   that she forgot her own name. The kidnappers therefore gave her the   
   name “Bakhita.” They did not know how well they chose: “Bakhita” is   
   Arabic for “the fortunate one.” While little Miss Bakhita was   
   unfortunate in being made a chattel slave, in the long run she was the   
   recipient of God’s most fatherly attention.   
      
   The young bondswoman became the chattel, now of one master, now of   
   another. Most of her owners, it would appear, were Muslims. One of her   
   purchasers, a general in the Turkish army, had her “branded” like his   
   other slaves. The branding was entrusted to a woman expert in the   
   procedure. She inflicted 114 razor cuts on the breasts, arms and   
   abdomen of the 13-year-old. Then she rubbed salt and flour into the   
   wounds so that they healed into a permanent seal of ownership.   
      
   Throughout her early life, however, this black pagan girl demonstrated   
   an inborn goodness and gentility that protected her virtue. Although   
   she exemplified the enslaved at their most voiceless, she possessed   
   what could only be called a “naturally Christian” soul. The last   
   couple that owned her made no mistake in appointing her “nanny” to   
   their little daughter. Having moved to Venice, Italy, they enrolled   
   the daughter in a course of religious instruction conducted by the   
   Canossian Sisters, a branch of the Sisters of Charity. Bakhita   
   accompanied the child to each catechism class. At last the pagan slave   
   from Sudan encountered Catholic doctrine and Catholic nuns, and found   
   both deeply impressive.   
      
   Then a new crisis occurred in Bakhita’s eventful life. Her master and   
   mistress decided to return to Sudan. What should their nanny do? If   
   she returned with them she knew that her economic condition would   
   always be guaranteed, and she might even be able to rediscover her own   
   family. On the other hand, she was still a catechumen, not yet a   
   Catholic, and deeply desirous of baptism. Furthermore her association   
   with the Canossian Sisters, by now so dear to her, would come to an   
   end. During her period of indecision the question of her legal status   
   as a slave was also raised before an Italian tribunal. Having studied   
   the case carefully, the judge reached the decision that since Sudan   
   had enacted a law forbidding slavery not long before her birth, the   
   young black woman had actually never been a slave.   
      
   Bakhita at length made a most Christian decision. She chose to remain   
   in Italy, be baptized a Catholic, and leave all else in the hands of   
   God. The Canossians saw her through the course of studies. In 1890 she   
   was baptized “Giuseppina” (Josephine). Her next step was logical. In   
   1893 she sought admission into the Canossian Sisters, and in 1896 she   
   took final vows as a member of their community, During the next half   
   century, Sister Bakhita proved herself a model religious, ever humble,   
   ever grateful. Nobody realized better than she that were it not for   
   the incredible trials of her youth she would never have come to know   
   God.   
      
   Pope John Paul II beatified Sister Josephine in 1992. Only eight years   
   later, during the Great Jubilee, he canonized her. The space between   
   beatification and canonization was unusually brief. In declaring her a   
   saint the Pope was doubtless influenced in part by the fact that in   
   the year 2000 Sudan was still a land fraught with conflict and   
   notorious for its disregard of civil rights.   
      
   The principal reason for his choice, however, seems to have been to   
   hold up to the world Josephine, “The Fortunate One”, as the recipient   
   of God’s ever-fatherly love. In his canonization homily the Pope cried   
   out for more saints. “Choose them, Lord! You can raise up saints. Take   
   them from all lands … Lord, give us saints!”   
   –Father Robert F. McNamara   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Man's salvation and perfection consist in doing the will of God; which   
   he must have in view in all things and at every moment of his life:   
   the more he accomplishes this Divine will, the more perfect he will   
   be. To do the will of God man must despise his own: the more he dies   
   to himself, the more he will live to God.   
   -- Blessed Peter Claver   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Dearly beloved, think not strange the burning heat which is to try   
   you: as if some new thing happened to you. But if you partake of the   
   sufferings of Christ, rejoice that, when his glory shall be revealed,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)