We're back for another exciting matchup as Josephine Bakhita takes on Eric Liddell. Who will run away with the victory? That's up to you!
Yesterday, in the tightest race of Lent Madness XIV to date (by far), Blandina squeezed past Simeon Bachos 51% to 49% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen. You see, your (single) vote does actually count!
Obviously you watched Monday Madness yesterday. But if you want to watch the rerun (we really should put these into syndication), you can watch it here.
Time to vote!
Josephine Bakhita
Josephine Bakhita was born in 1869 in what is now the Darfur region of Sudan, among the Daju people. By her account, she enjoyed a happy childhood in a relatively prosperous family in the town of Olgossa. However, in February of 1877, raiding slave traders put an end to that. She was captured and marched barefoot for more than 600 miles to be sold.
For the next 12 years of her life, Josephine was enslaved. So deep was the trauma from her kidnapping that she forgot her own birth name. She had various owners—some were benign; others tortured her with beatings, whippings, and cutting. Finally, in 1883, she was sold to the Italian Vice Consul of Sudan, Calisto Legani, who took her to Italy with him. Once there, he gave her as a gift to serve as a nanny for a friend’s family.
With her young charge, Josephine traveled to Venice to accompany the young girl to study with the Canossian Sisters. There, for the first time, Josephine found language to describe her sense of God’s presence and love. By her own account, she had always had a belief in a creator of the universe and a sense of a protective presence, but now, she understood what that presence was. With this new understanding, she also began to discern a call to enter the sisters’ community herself. Meanwhile, the girl’s family returned to pick up their daughter, but Josephine declined to leave. For three days, she raised such a ruckus that no one knew quite what to do until finally the mother superior went to the Italian authorities on Josephine’s behalf. The court determined that since slavery had been outlawed in the Sudan before Josephine was captured—and also, by the way—was illegal in Italy, Josephine was now free… and should have been free the whole time.
Presented with agency over her own person and the freedom to make her own choices, Josephine decided to stay with the sisters. On January 9, 1890, she was baptized and named herself Josephine Margaret, and she entered religious life in 1896 as a Canossian Daughter of Charity. She ended up in Schio, Vicenza, where she lived until her death, working as the doorkeeper and cook and occasionally traveling around to other convents to prepare fellow nuns to work in Africa. She became known for her gentle voice and her smile, and during World War II, the people of the village attributed their safety to her protection. She died in 1947.
Collect for Josephine Bakhita
O God of Love, who delivered your servant Josephine Margaret Bakhita from the bondage of slavery to the true freedom of your service; Grant to the wounded your healing grace in mind, body, and spirit and to your church the zeal to combat exploitation and slavery in all its forms; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Eric Liddell
Eric Liddell was born to Scottish missionaries in Tientsin, China, on January 16, 1902. When he was six years old, he and his older brother, Robert, were enrolled in a boarding school in London that served the sons of missionaries. While at the school, he began to distinguish himself as an athlete, excelling in cricket, rugby, and track and field.
Liddell’s true gift was speed. He began to attract international attention while at the University of Edinburgh. He competed for Great Britain in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Although his strongest event was the 100 meters, he refused to race because the heats were scheduled on a Sunday. Instead, he ran in the 400, a distance that he was not known for. Nevertheless, he won the race and set Olympic and world records. He also won the bronze medal in the 200-meter race.
Perhaps more relevant to the current competition for the Golden Halo, Liddell decided to follow his parents’ footsteps and became a missionary to northern China in 1925, at the peak of his athletic career. After his first furlough in 1932, Liddell returned to China as an ordained minister in the Congregational Union of Scotland and married his wife, Florence Mackenzie, a daughter of Canadian missionaries. They had three daughters together, the youngest of whom he would never meet.
In 1941, Japanese aggression toward China prompted his wife and children to return to Canada for safety. Liddell stayed in China and moved to Xiaozhang to give his ailing brother, Robert, a medical missionary, a chance to furlough. When the fighting between Japan and China reached the town, Liddell returned to Tianjin. In 1943, Liddell was interned at the Weihsien Camp. He became an important leader in the camp, advocating for access to food, medicine, and supplies. He was called on to resolve disputes and was known to be an impartial arbiter between various groups and also taught and organized activities for the youth in the camp.
He wrote his last letter to his wife on the day that he died. He was suffering a nervous breakdown on account of all the work and responsibilities he had assumed. Further, he was suffering from an inoperable brain tumor, and the malnourishment and stress at the camp exacerbated his poor health. He died on February 21, 1945, five months before the camp was liberated.
Collect for Eric Liddell
Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Eric Liddell, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with him attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Josephine Bakhita: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Eric Liddell: unknown (Sports event handout)[1], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
122 comments on “Josephine Bakhita v. Eric Liddell”
1. Wasn't Liddell's story the basis for the film, Chariots of Fire?
2. I look for the saint who apparently did the most good for himself and more importantly for others.
3l Liddell's story paralells the life of Father Emil Kapaun in a North Korean prisoner camp. We protestants and Catholics in south central follow his path toward sainthood. He's already on his way. Lasst year, they found his remains and returned them to the very small town of Pilson, Kansas.
Just had to vote for Child of Missionaries. As a preacher's kid myself, I know that we are held to a higher standard that affects the credibility of our parents.
Interesting match up of saints. One was led by God from an imprisoned life of a slave to freedom, while the other was led by God from freedom into an imprisoned life of a war prisoner. God's presence in both these lives allowed them to minister to people around them under horrendous circumstances. God is good...all the time.
Ruth Anne, your comment explains perfectly why today’s choice is so difficult.
I voted for Eric Liddell because I was so moved by his lines in Chariots of Fire: " The Lord made me to serve him, but he also made me fast, and I feel His pleasure when I run." Those lines are so eloquent about God's pleasure in his creation, and in the joy people feel when they use their God-given gifts. Other people commented on those lines too- they struck a chord.
This has been the hardest decision yet. I first learned about Josephine in an Iona community office and found her story incredibly moving. I have have known about Eric Liddell for many years. In the end my vote went to Eric, not least because having refused to compete on a Sunday, chose to referee a hockey game for young people in the camp so they could benefit from the activity.
If you can suffer years of torture and slavery and still feel God's protective presence, that's faith. Bakhita for me!
Tough choice today, as I was already familiar with both of their stories. But I was swayed by one of the best movie lines ever: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." I have no idea if Eric really said this, but the thought that we can each feel God's pleasure when we are what God created us to be is wonderful.
Voted for Eric Liddell. He put his love of God ahead of his personal ambition and worked for the good of his fellow concentration camp prisoners. His refusal to compete in the Olympics on a Sunday evangelized on the world stage.
I also found Josephine's story very compelling and it was a difficult choice today. I can be satisfied with whomever wins today.
Agree -- neither story was well written. What's happening?
There is no place on here where I can cast my vote. I vote for Eric Liddell.
It's difficult for me to consider someone torn from their own culture and forced to live a life imposed by others. Josephine's faith is laudable, but I cannot help but think that Christianity in the form of the Canossian sisters was the best of a bad situation. Would she have rather been with her Daju society and culture? We'll never know. I went with Eric.
I’d like to vote for the Mother Superior.
Certainly, the forgiveness of one another after war or inhuman treatment is so important, because it allows us to co-exist.
Another tough vote because both of these people inspired hope and forgiveness. Certainly, the forgiveness of one another after war or inhuman treatment is so important, because it allows us to co-exist.
However, I voted for Josephine Bakhita because she endured the worse of human depravity and still maintained a joyful spirit and she provides, even today, a light for women who may be sex trafficked or abused. Too, perhaps her constant prayer did send a protective spirit over her part of Italy during WWII, as it is remarkable that no person died as a result of the bombings in that area! That's the HOLY SPIRIT at work!
--
Another tough vote because both of these people inspired hope and forgiveness. Certainly, forgiveness of one another after war or inhuman treatment is so important, because it allows us to co-exist.
However, I voted for Josephine Bakhita because she endured the worse of human depravity and still maintained a joyful spirit and she provides, even today, a light for women who may be sex trafficked or abused. Too, perhaps her constant prayer did send a protective spirit over her part of Italy during WWII, as it is remarkable that no person died as a result of the bombings in that area! That's the HOLY SPIRIT at work!
--
I actually appreciate the difficult choices (when I want to vote for both... as opposed to the few times I don't want to vote for either) because they make me process and ponder more. I won't mind at all no matter who advances here. (Though I did go back and look, and it'll destroy half my bracket if Mr. Chariots of Fire does. *wink*)
But what pushed me just enough to click on Josephine was a connection that came to mind from both words in the bio and insight from a few comments... And that is Josephine as a young girl could not recognize nor remember her name but she did recognize Whose presence had always been with her when she was "introduced" to God.
This is another hard choice. How can I, a Scot, not vote for Eric Liddell? But, despite the winsomeness of Chariots of Fire and the saintliness of the man himself, I will vote for the free woman Sister Josephine Bakhita. Those who have been enslaved in life are now in glorious freedom in the presence of the Creator. May she be with us to inspire us to continually fight against all enslavement and racist violence in this world.
https://saintsforsinners.com/blogs/news/day-11-of-lent-2023-%EF%B8%8F-vote-for-saint-josephine-bakhita. We have been campaigning for Saint Josephine!
Today I wanted to vote for both Josephine and Eric. It was a hard choice.
This years group of people have really made you both work hard. Thanks for your efforts. It is much appreciated.
I think Liddell deserves a bit more consideration, since he really ventured all for his faith, not once but repeatedly. There is no information whatever given to suggest that Ms Bakhita did anything out of the ordinary. Obviously it is tragic and disgusting that people trafficked her and hundreds of thousands of other innocents, but that in itself is hardly a pathway to sainthood.