Black History Month Reflection - Madame Laurence Irving

Here is just one example of why Black History Month is so necessary: Josephine Bakhita, a slave who became a nun, is celebrated on February 8.

This woman's journey, this strength, this personality, this aura... It overwhelmed me.

Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947) was born in Darfur. At the age of 7, she was kidnapped, then bought and sold several times by Muslim slave traders. She was 14 when her master became the Italian consul in Khartoum (the capital of Sudan). He sent her to Italy, where she worked as a domestic servant and later as a nursemaid. She joined the Canossian Order of the Daughters of Charity, devoting herself to the service of the poorest. 

She died at the age of 78, in 1947, and was canonized by John Paul II in 2000. Over the course of the twentieth century, a whole range of imagery developed in Italy around her saintly story.

To read the life of Josephine Bakhita is to consider the destiny of a little girl who walked 800 km over burning sand and stones, who witnessed atrocious scenes, who was commodified by becoming a slave. There were "many tears shed when reading her life story, not tenderness but accompaniment." It's impossible not to think of all those who are still reduced to slavery today, whether in Africa or Asia, and even in Europe.

Despite this harsh life, Josephine Bakhita never gave in to violence or bitterness. And that's probably what makes her "a very astonishing woman". Firstly, it's "an unimaginable strength of life", and secondly, it's an exceptional path of resistance. Anyone else in her place might have given in to "bitterness, malice or madness". "Some people are stronger, more intelligent, more luminous than others." I also assume that Josephine Bakhita received "immense love" from her parents, which led her to the love of Jesus, which is, in my opinion, the only path to follow.

She lived a "constant inner struggle", in "permanent insubordination". Today, what I want to share with all of you is "Bakhita's reflection". That of a "light that all who came close to her felt". And the reflection it nourishes in us in the 21st century.

Keep celebrating,

Madame Laurence Irving
French Instructor