2021-22 Patron Saint Nominee--Blessed Isadore Bakanja

Blessed Isadore Bakanja

Blessed Isadore Bakanja was born in the Congo in 1887. As a teenager, he was greatly influenced by a group of trappist missionaries and became devout in his faith. He was known among his community as a person of deep faith. He was never seen without his scapular and kept a rosary in his pocket so he could pray at all times. In Isadore’s adulthood, he moved away from his village to find work as a bricklayer in a large city, for a Belgian company. Under the colonial system of the early 1900’s, the company owners brutalized the indigenous Congolese workers. Because the Church was pushing for workers’ rights and was used as a refuge for workers to organize, Isadore’s foreman singled him out in particular for wearing a scapular. The foreman said that if Isadore had his way, “everyone would spend the day praying...no one would work.” At one point, he ripped off Isadore’s scapular and beat him. When Isadore put his scapular back on and returned to his work, the agent beat him again and left him for dead. Isadore was able to crawl away and seek refuge from some locals.  There he survived for another 6 months and was able to report the attack to a labor inspector. When some missionary priests came to give Isadore Last Rites, he told them that he had already forgiven his attacker and promised to pray for him saying, “Certainly I shall pray for him. When I am in heaven, I shall pray for him very much.” He died on August 15, 1909 with a rosary in his hand and wearing his scapular.

Blessed Isadore Bakanja is an example of persistence, forgiveness and faith. May we learn from his example to call out injustice, work to end the systems that uphold it, and yet forgive those who commit it. 

Source

“Blessed Isidore Bakanja“. CatholicSaints.Info. 5 May 2020. Web.9 November 2021.