St. Josephine Bakhita Coloring Page

St. Josephine Bakhita coloring page

~ click here ~

Hope for the Future

Sr. Lisa, a Canossian sister, has posted on her blog a letter from Sr. Giovanna Tosi, the Provincial Leader of North-Eastern Africa, requesting prayers for the people of Sudan particularly the newly recognized Republic of South Sudan. Please take a moment to read the entire letter... it's incredibly moving and informative as to the real needs of the people who are most directly affected right now.

Geographically we are in the North Sudan, predominantly Muslim, while the Republic of South Sudan is Christian. Our 12 Sisters there are safe, though stressed by the tension of the uncertainty of this moment. Our ministries, however, are affected; our institutions had some Christian staff and co-workers from the South. The North Sudan Government has issued a rule that obliged all employers to terminate the work contract with employees from the South, giving them their due and forcing them to return to South Sudan. Because of this we lost many teachers and collaborators, but even with shortage of personnel, sisters continue with the mission of education and serve the students in our schools regardless of who and which religion.

It remains with us now, as Sr. Margaret Peter mentioned in her recent prayer appeal for Sudan, the search for God’s will and the continuity of our presence in the North Sudan. Dearest Sisters, do not get tired to pray with us and for us, for the discernment we are called to do and the choices and decisions we have to make.

 God bless these sisters in their work! Please add their intentions to your prayers!

Prayer in Honor of St. Josephine Bakhita

To obtain favor from St. Josephine Bakhita please say this prayer, an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be and kindly remember to pray for our suffering Christian brothers and sisters in Sudan, her native land, who at this very moment are being persecuted, sold into slavery, and converted against their will to the Muslim religion:

Loving God, rewarder of the humble, you blessed St. Josephine Bakhita with charity and patience. May her prayers help us, and her example inspire us to carry our cross and to love you always. Pour upon us the spirit of wisdom and love with which you filled St. Josephine Bakhita.

By serving you as she did, may we please you by our faith and our actions. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

"Be good,...

... love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God."

~ St. Josephine Bakhita

We are celebrating Sunshine's confirmation saint today and making a traditional Sudanese dessert in a very non-traditional way. In the meantime, go read the Word On Fire blog post in honor of St. Josephine.

...amongst the Canossian Sisters in Venice, St. Josephine’s mission was carried out in the services of “cooking, sewing, embroidery and attending the door.”

That is all.

No literary works are attributed to Josephine Bakhita, few quips of theological genius carry her citation, no major religious orders or movements memorialize her earthly existence. In the same vein as the beloved St. Therese of Lisieux, Josephine was a saint of the “little way,” even littler still. She is a saint of almost-unnoticed holiness. Almost. Cooking, sewing, embroidering, and attending the door, she carried out joyfully the call of Christ in the small tasks of a menial, yet eternally important life: every child who entered in through that door to be educated by the Canossian Sisters received the warm welcome of St. Josephine, a hearty hug and a kiss on the top of the head, her love overflowing and her spirit carrying Christ to all who crossed that threshold.

Do go read the rest! And don't forget the coloring page.

St. Josephine Bakhita, African Flower, Mother Moretta, patron of Sudan, pray for us!

A Costume for St. Josephine

It's that time of year when my kiddos try to stump the Mommy by choosing a saint for All Saints Day that stretches my creativity and my sewing skills. This year, Sunshine asked if she could dress as her Confirmation patron, St. Josephine Bakhita. Have you SEEN a Canossian sister's habit from the early 1900's? Whoa!

Obviously, the most notable aspect of her habit is her veil. OK, so here is the best I could come up with...

I took a scrap piece of black cotton (about a 1/2 a yard) to make the head covering. Using wide width ribbon and tape, I created the look of St. Josephine's veil and then tacked it in place with a needle and thread.Yup. I left the tape there and hand sewed right over it for extra stability.

Then I crossed the ends in the back, and then tied and tucked on top. You could also secure them with a safety pin. Now, St. Josephine's veil wasn't a head wrap and actually fits more like a bonnet, but we are just going for an impression, not reality. If I had more time, I might try to make a bonnet, but not this year. I do have some more ribbon loops to go on the crown of her head which we will attach on the day.

For the necklace you see in her picture, I had some help from a friendly Canossian sister, Sr. Lisa, who answered my question with this interesting information:

The medal she wore around her neck was double-sided, with our Lady of Sorrows on the front side, and the back side depicts the instruments of Jesus' suffering, as drawn by our foundress, St Magdalene of Canossa. These pictures were encased in gold and/or brass frame with glass - and later - plastic window panes. Each Canossian Sister wore this medal (and they would put between the two pictures their private messages to Jesus - so neat!), hung from a black, silk woven cord. 

She even sent me copies of the images to print out for Sunshine! Thank you, Sr. Lisa!

For the rest of her costume, Sunshine is wearing an old black skirt and using a black capelet from our dress-up box. I'll try to post pictures of everyone in full costume later. We don't want to spoil the surprise for the cousins.

St. Josephine Bakhita

“Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!”

As she grew older she experienced long, painful years of sickness. Mother Bakhita continued to witness to faith, goodness and Christian hope. To those who visited her and asked how she was, she would respond with a smile: “As the Master desires.” ~from the Vatican

My sweet Sunshine is celebrating her Confirmation saint's feast day today. Unfortunately, I am battling a little food poisoning (I suspect). Fortunately, Husband picked up some Jell-O Flan aka Creme Caramela, a traditional Sudanese dessert. We will have to put our plans for a Sudanese style meal on hold. Plain pasta sounds tolerable right now, so maybe we will honor the time she spent in Italy, instead.

You can also read my post over at Catholic Cuisine.

And there is a coloring page for St. Josephine in the side bar over there if you feel like printing it out.

St. Josephine Bakhita Coloring Page

I must beg your forgiveness for one thing. This was actually one of the first pictures I made after St. Maximillian. You can see on the Scribd page that it was added 5 months ago. Sunshine was considering St. Josephine as a confirmation saint along with some obviously girlie choices like St. Margaret of Scotland and St. Jane. I always thought I would get a chance to go back and make a better rendition; but I never did. Sunshine was confirmed with the name of St. Josephine Bakhita which just goes to show you that sometimes the saint chooses you. My Sunshine has been a princess her whole life and a lover of all things princess-ish. The fact that she chose St. Josephine, a former slave, proved to me her spiritual maturity and ability to open her heart to God's whisperings.

So I am offering this coloring page even though I wish it were a little nicer but that is the perfectionist in me and I will go put the muzzle on her for now.

St. Josephine Bakhita Coloring Page

I think our Coffee, Tea and Thee celebrating St. Josephine Bakhita was one of the most memorable for the children; they have mentioned it more than any other. We talked about St. Josephine's story and the amazing story of Lopez Lomong back when the Olympics began. So,on Sunday, we will be doing the same and enjoying a new tradition.

Coffee, Tea and Thee

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…

St. Josephine Bakhita

For Coffee, Tea and Thee we are celebrating St. Josephine Bakhita's feast day. What an amazing saint! She was stolen away from her home in the Sudan by slave traders and ended up in Italy. She was baptized at age 21 and became a Canossian sister. She endured terrible abuses at the hands of her captors and yet, she not only forgave them, but thanked them for helping her find the path to Christianity and the religious life. I took this opportunity to talk to the children about The Lost Boys of the Sudan. They were amazed that stories like St. Josephine's happen even today.This website had some interesting information about having an authentic Sudanese meal with recipes and instructions on how to serve your guests. We put a tablecloth on our coffee table and placed pillows all around. The flowers on the table are hibiscus flowers that the girls made. One species of the Hibiscus called the Roselle is used to make Karkade, a special tea in Egypt and Sudan. The Professor made the flag of Sudan to add to our table decorations.We opted for cinnamon tea to accompany our Creme Caramela (a traditional Sudanese dessert). Alright, it's really flan and I used an instant Jell-o mix to make it. Call me chicken, but any recipe that calls for baking something in a pan of water scares me. The cinnamon tea was delicious, but not a favorite. They were more interested in trying to catch the stick than drinking the tea. Shortcake has decided she is not a big flan fan, but loves caramel! Oh well, it was worth it just to get them to try something new!Sunshine had saved her Magnifikid that had a feature on St. Josephine and we read the story while we enjoyed our third installment of Coffee, Tea and Thee.