“So,” relates Benedict XVI, “when she was about to be taken back to Sudan, Bakhita refused; she did not wish to be separated again from her ‘Paron’. On 9 January 1890, she was baptized and confirmed and received her first Holy Communion from the hands of the Patriarch of Venice. On 8 December 1896, in Verona, she took her vows in the Congregation of the Canossian Sisters and from that time onwards, besides her work in the sacristy and in the porter's lodge at the convent, she made several journeys round Italy in order to promote the missions: the liberation that she had received through her encounter with the God of Jesus Christ, she felt she had to extend, it had to be handed on to others, to the greatest possible number of people.”
“The hope born in her which had ‘redeemed’ her she could not keep to herself; this hope had to reach many, to reach everybody,” the Pope concludes.
A Saint in an Everlasting Hell
Towards the end of “Saved by Hope”, the pontiff suggests another modern day saint for reflection, this time from the East. In the context of teaching on the meaning that Christians find in suffering, Pope Benedict relates the story the Vietnamese martyr Paul Le-Bao-Tinh († 1857) “which illustrates this transformation of suffering through the power of hope springing from faith.”
The martyr Paul’s letter begins, “The prison here is a true image of everlasting Hell: to cruel tortures of every kind—shackles, iron chains, manacles—are added hatred, vengeance, calumnies, obscene speech, quarrels, evil acts, swearing, curses, as well as anguish and grief.”
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
“But the God who once freed the three children from the fiery furnace is with me always; he has delivered me from these tribulations and made them sweet, for his mercy is for ever. In the midst of these torments, which usually terrify others, I am, by the grace of God, full of joy and gladness, because I am not alone —Christ is with me,” quotes the Holy Father.
Le-Bao-Tinh’s letter continues: “How am I to bear with the spectacle, as each day I see emperors, mandarins, and their retinue blaspheming your holy name, O Lord, who are enthroned above the Cherubim and Seraphim? (cf. Ps 80:1 [79:2]). Behold, the pagans have trodden your Cross underfoot! Where is your glory?”
Benedict XVI also cites the martyr’s letter to describe the power of hope: “As I see all this, I would, in the ardent love I have for you, prefer to be torn limb from limb and to die as a witness to your love. O Lord, show your power, save me, sustain me, that in my infirmity your power may be shown and may be glorified before the nations ... Beloved brothers, as you hear all these things may you give endless thanks in joy to God… In the midst of this storm I cast my anchor towards the throne of God, the anchor that is the lively hope in my heart.”