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Saint Bakhita is an outstanding example of gentleness, love, and faithfulness. In a world so easily consumed with bitterness, revenge, and self-centeredness, her virtues of forgiveness to others who deeply harmed her and gratitude for all of God’s goodness and grace in her life are inspiring. She often said, “’Be good, love the Lord, pray for the unhappy souls who do not know him yet. What a grace it is to know God!’”

At the young age of seven, Bakhita is traumatically torn from her village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan by slave traders. Although she and another young girl manage to escape, it is only temporary. Even though she receives “better” treatment as a house slave than other slaves, she is still subjected to cruel and inhumane punishments, nearly dying on more than one occasion because of being brutally whipped and viscously kicked and beaten.

That anyone should receive such harsh treatment by the hands of another human is beyond comprehension. These distressing scenes could be used as a point of discussion to explain the importance of spreading the Christian message of the incredible worth of a person’s soul, created in the image and likeness of God.

Remarkably, when Bakhita was asked later in life, “’What would you do if you met your kidnappers now?’ Without hesitating, she replied, ‘If I were to meet those slave traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would get down on my knees and kiss their hands because if all that had not happened, I would be neither a Christian nor a religious now.’ Bakhita was a living witness to the power of forgiveness.”

Through a series of incredible events, Bakhita was brought to Italy, where she came into contact with the Daughters of Charity of Canossa, also known as the “Canossians.” After some time, she would join their order and become a beautiful example of God’s love to others.

Susan Helen Wallace, FSP, does a wonderful job of introducing us to this little known saint, whose faith journey begins with terror, fear, and unbelievable cruelty, but ends in the joy of the risen Lord.

St. Bakhita, pray for us.

Catherine was born in the year 1347 of a wealthy family in Siena, Italy. These were troubled times in her native country. The pope was living in Avignon, France, and rival Italian cities and families were constantly at war with one another. The author gives presents a rather interesting story of a rather remarkable little girl who had heavenly visions and was a light of comfort and cheer to all those who came in contact with her. As Catherine grew older she live a very pious and austere life, offering great penances to Our Lord and working to help the poor and convert sinners. One of the most remarkable stories of this time in her life is how she brought a man back to the faith just before he was to be executed - even remaining with him at the time of his execution. But God had even bigger plans for Catherine. To her came the difficult task of convincing the pope to return to Rome and help and encourage him through the hardships involved after he did finally return. Catherine's devout prayer life, her obedience to the will of God and her great humility allowed her to overcome seemingly impossible tasks by the grace of God. Today she is honored as one of the greatest of saints and a Doctor of the Church. The book is suitable for upper grade school and high school, but will be beneficial to adults as well!

From Our Coats of Many Colors

Our Coats of Many Colors, a cottage industry run by a mom in Kansas with a team of six seamstresses, has been making beautiful and imaginative dress-up costumes for six years. They have recently added a line of religious costumes for children - priest outfits from three different orders: Jesuit, Benedictine and Franciscan. The costumes are sturdy (my children have been using these for YEARS and they've held up beautifully and wash quite easily), nicely detailed, and feature velcro to make dressing up easy for little ones. Great for All Saints' Day dress-up.

The Jesuit costume (pictured at right), comes in five sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL).

It includes a full-length black cassock and cincture (like a belt) and features a roman collar.
A row of buttons hides the easy-open velcro front of the cassock. The cincture also has a velcro-closure.
Some great Jesuits include:

• St. Ignatius Loyola, founder
• St. Francis Xavier
• St. Isaac Jogues
• St. Jean de Brebeuf
• St. Edmund Campion
• Pierre de Smet
• Jaques Marquette
• St. Robert Bellarmine
• St. Peter Claver
• St. Aloysius Gonzaga
• Fr. Eusebio Kino
• St. Paul Miki
• St. Stanislaus Kostka
• St. Claude de la Colombierre
• St. Robert Southwell
• Gerard Manley Hopkins

The Benedictine costume (pictured at right), and comes in five sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL).

It includes a full-length black cassock, hooded scapular and cincture (belt).
All pieces have a velcro-closure.
Some great Benedictines include:

• St. Benedict, founder
• St. Gregory the Great
• St. Augustine of Canterbury
• St. Boniface
• St. Thomas Becket
• St. Bede
• St. Hermannus Contractus

The Franciscan costume (pictured at right), comes in five sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL).

It includes a full-length brown hooded cassock and rope belt.
Some great Franciscans include:

• St. Francis, founder
• St. Anthony of Padua
• St. Bonaventure
• St. Francis Solanus
• St. Joseph of Cupertino
• Blessed Junipero Serra
• St. Padre Pio
• St. Maximilian Kolbe

Their line has significantly grown over the years and includes many female saints as well.

This should not be the first book you read about St. Francis. It is a book for those who are already familiar with the saint. It is a novelization, or fictionalization of the adult life of St. Francis, as told through the eyes of a fictional Brother Leo.

The story is well woven by Kazantzakis, a prolific writer who spent most of his life (1883-1957) in Greece, but who gave up his Greek Orthodox faith at some point in his life (and did not embrace any other faith), who was introduced to St. Francis when he visited the city of Assisi.

As historical fiction, this book serves as an interesting chance to hear more details about St. Francis's everyday life. It focuses especially on the struggle between spirit and flesh, and the saint is constantly battling fatigue, starvation, extreme thirst, and even when he is weakened by these, he is still searching for ways to mortify his flesh, something Brother Leo tries to stop but cannot.

I can clearly see how this book would be of benefit to those who would like help imagining St. Francis's daily life. And his heroic virtues are evident in the story, and are exemplary. However, this book is not for those who want to stick to the historical record. For example, the main character, Brother Leo, is ficticious. And I know of no historical eveidence that the brothers who banded with St. Francis ever called him "Father Francis" which Kazantzakis has them do. St. Francis was never ordained a priest, and so would not have been called "Father."

There are study questions at the end of the book to assist book clubs in bringing out the ideas of the book. There are but 12 questions, each of which could be discussed in a session. For example, "Francis preaches and lives out of a total dependence on God. What did this mean for him in terms of the concrete realities of his daily life? What might it mean for you?"

This book shows the challenges of living as a saint in the world, and in addition, as one reads, one is challenged to question one's own life and the things we think of as important. Francis's poverty is exemplary, his dependence on God marvelous, his attractiveness is evident as more and more men come to him, seeking the life he lives, seeking God.

I think that for adults, this book can be helpful. It shows St. Francis is a very vividly imaginative story, and unusual telling of his life. Yet, it is also a story that draws you in, and helps the reader think about God, life and living as a saint.