In the footsteps of Magdalene

Saint Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947)

Universal Sister – The slave who became a saint-

M. Bakhita was born in Sudan in 1869 and died in Schio (Vicenza) in 1947. An African flower, who knew the anguish of kidnapping and slavery, she opened herself wonderfully to the love of God in Italy, alongside the Daughters of St. Magdalene of Canossa.

M. Moretta

In Schio (Vicenza), where she lived for many years, everyone still calls her “our M. Moretta”. The process for the cause of Canonization began twelve years after her death and on December 1, 1978 the Church issued the decree on the heroism of her virtues. Divine Providence, which “cares for the flowers of the field and the birds of the air,” guided this Sudanese slave, through countless and unspeakable suffering, to human freedom and that of faith, until the consecration of her entire life to God for the coming of the kingdom.

On 17^th May 1992, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her Blessed and on October 1, 2000, she was proclaimed a Saint.

Bakhita is not the name her parents gave her at birth. The terrible experience had also made her forget her real name.

Bakhita, which means “the lucky one,” is the name given to her by her captors. Sold and resold several times in the markets of El Obeid and Khartoum, she experienced the humiliations, physical and moral suffering of slavery.

She had a tattoo on her body through an incision and was very close to death. The value of the little girl, who survived the wounds of the tattoo and who will bear the marks for the rest of her life, in the trade is far superior to that of other slaves.

In the capital of Sudan, Bakhita is bought by an Italian Consul, Mr. Calisto Legnani. For the first time since the day of her kidnapping, she notices, with pleasant surprise, that no one, when giving her orders, uses the whip anymore; on the contrary, she is treated with affable and cordial manners.

After a few months of catechumenate, she receives the Sacraments of Christian Initiation and then the new name of Giuseppina Bakhita. It is 9^th January 1890. That day she does not know how to express her joy. Her large and expressive eyes sparkle, revealing an intense emotion. Later she is often seen kissing the baptismal font and saying: ‘Here I have become a daughter of God!’.

Bakhita remained at the catechumenate and there the call to become a nun became clear to her, to give herself entirely to the Lord in the Institute of St. Magdalene of Canossa. On December 8, 1896 Giuseppina Bakhita consecrated herself forever to her God whom she called, with a sweet expression, “el me Paron”.

Her humility, her simplicity and her constant smile won the hearts of all the citizens of Schio. Her fellow nuns esteemed her for her unalterable sweetness, her exquisite goodness and her deep desire to make the Lord known. “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know him. Know what a great grace it is to know God!

Luigia Grassi (1811-1888)

M. Luigia Grassi, pioneer of the Canossian Missions, was born in Milan in the popular Ticinese district on 7^th September 1811 to Angelo and Giuseppa Rossi; the firstborn of eight children.

Good, sensible and pious, she stood out, even as a child, for her love for Jesus in the Eucharist.

She attended school at the Canossian Daughters of Charity in Via della Chiusa and was fascinated by the zeal and ardent charity towards the poor of the Sisthers: she felt a strong desire in her to follow them on a path of giving self to God and to others.

The meetings with the Foundress, Maddalena di Canossa, strengthened this desire, which she was able to realize in Milan on 31 December 1833, when she began her postulancy.

In 1852 a Canossian house was opened in Pavia following the heartfelt requests of Bishop Monsignor Angelo Ramazzotti, founder of the Institute for Foreign Missions in Milan; the role of Superior of the new community was entrusted to Mother Grassi.

When Monsignor Ramazzotti, in the meantime appointed Patriarch of Venice, was strongly urged to look for missionary Sisters for China, he turned to M. Luigia, whose apostolic zeal he knew well.

She enthusiastically agreed to the request, but since at that time the Canossian Constitutions did not contemplate missionary activity, Monsignor Ramazzotti worked with the Holy See and obtained from Pius XII that the necessary changes be introduced. Thus, the first Canossian Missionaries left Pavia escorted by M. Grassi; joining two other Sisters from Venice, they received the Crucifix from the Patriarch and, blessed by him, set sail for Hong Kong: it was February 27, 1860.

From then on, M. Grassi organized sixteen expeditions for the missions, taking on a great deal of work both for the bureaucratic formalities and for the difficult search for means. But much more demanding was the choice and formation of the Sisters to be sent on mission. For this purpose, in 1879 he obtained the erection of a missionary novitiate in the house of Pavia.

M. Luigia is a constant point of reference for the missionary Sisters who turn to her for the growing needs of the works that are expanding. She herself, with her ardent enthusiasm, wishes to go on a mission, but obedience keeps her in her homeland. However, she does not fail to witness and give to all with her ardent zeal.

She carries out other foundations, in Pavia itself, in Bologna and in Rome at the invitation of Cardinal Parocchi and finally in Belgioioso.

Re-elected Superior several times with full votes, M. Grassi died on 11^th November 1888, while still engaged in this service, resumed after a brief interruption.

The mourning is unanimous not only of the Daughters, but of the entire city, especially the religious and civil authorities.

On 24^th February 1994 the Bishop of Pavia, Monsignor Giovanni Volta, opens the Diocesan Cognitional Process on the life, virtues and reputation of sanctity of the Servant of God, M. Luigia Grassi.

M. Teresa Pera (1870 -1938)

Teresa Pera was born in Turin on February 16, 1870 and was baptized two days later.

In July 1874 the family moved to Milan.

First steps

Teresa had a particular inclination for the study of languages; in fact she graduated in English, German and French. Gifted with an energetic will, she pursued her goals with tenacity and perseverance. An upright, affable, simple person, she put at ease those who approached her with her natural frankness. Her sister Antonietta states that Teresa “was very humble and charitable”, a lover of God and her brothers.

On the road to the ideal

Teresa’s confessor called her a “virtuous, cultured young woman with great hopes”; he advised her to enter the Canossian Institute in Milan to respond to the divine call. This happened on 14^th October 1895.

M. Teresa aspires to belong entirely to God and to make His Love the center of her life. The fundamental purpose of her First Profession (June 28, 1898) is: “I choose the most direct path, that of love.” And from there her spiritual journey unfolds, leading her to achieve “the full victory of the divine over the human.”

Missionary vocation and responsibility

She has felt the missionary call for a long time and, three times, has made a written request to the Superior to send her to China, but always with a negative result. At a certain point, a very urgent request arrives from Hong Kong from a Mother with a degree in foreign languages: here is the hand of God who wants to realize Mother Teresa’s dream of missionary apostolate; she left on 17^th October 1900 and remained there until her death.

Heroism – towards the final stage

Over time, M. Pera’s body bore the signs of the disease: her body was wounded, swollen from the neck and along her entire body. She spent most of her nights awake, but always got up half an hour before the community alarm clock.

Her heroism as a Daughter of Obedience and silence reached its peak when on 18^th April 1938, she left for Rome for a course of Spiritual Exercises for the Provincial Councils. The chronicle reads:

“28^th April (1938, editor’s note) – End of the Exercises; …In the evening, visit from the Most Eminent Cardinal Protector, with paternal words, particularly to the Venerated M. Teresa Pera, Provincial of the Province of St. Ambrose and St. Charles, seriously ill with carcinoma and complications, who came from Milan with a heroic act out of love for her duty”.

It should be noted that the Cardinal Protector, ahead of his time, did not hesitate to declare Mother Pera’s virtue heroic!

Alone …

On Friday, 24^th June 1938, the Feast of the Sacred Heart, Mother Pera remained in the Community until the evening. All her attention and effort were focused on silently enduring the worsening of her illness. She breathed her last alone, as she had always desired, in the early hours of the morning on Sunday, 26^th June 1938: alone with God Alone, as her beloved Foundress said.

She was a Saint!

Interesting are the testimonies that recall her personal views on death:

“More than once we heard her express the desire to die alone, like her Patron Saint, Francis Xavier”.

To this they add another detail that contextualizes her passing:

“Thinking of Jesus’ stripping, I would be ashamed to die on the bed, while He died on the Cross! Oh, if I realize that I am about to die, I will come down to die on the ground!”. And the Lord answered her prayers completely!

Those who knew her had only one praise on their lips: “She was a Saint!”.