February 8
St Josephine Bakhita and St Jerome Emiliani
Feast shown for the year 2027; movable feasts can vary from year to year.
On February 8th, the Church commemorates St Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese woman whose extraordinary journey from slavery to religious life has become a powerful witness to forgiveness and hope. Born in Darfur in the late 19th century, she endured traumatic years in slavery before eventually gaining her freedom in Italy, where she was baptized and entered the Congregation of the Canossian Sisters. Her deep serenity, humility, and trust in God shone through her life despite all she suffered; she was known for her gentle presence, her compassion for the poor and sick, and her enduring faith. St Josephine Bakhita was canonized in 2000 by Pope St John Paul II and has become a symbol for victims of human trafficking, with her feast widely observed as a day of prayer for all who are enslaved or oppressed worldwide.
This day is also marked by the celebration of St Jerome Emiliani, Venetian by birth and a man who, after a dramatic conversion during his time as a soldier, devoted himself to the care and education of orphans and abandoned children. As founder of the Somascan Fathers, he dedicated his life to practical charity, especially in times of plague and war, establishing houses for those in need. St Jerome Emiliani's legacy lives on in the charitable works of his religious order; he is recognized as the patron saint of orphans and abandoned youth. Remembering these two saints together invites the faithful to reflect on compassion, the call to serve the most vulnerable, and the transformative power of faith. The Church celebrates St Josephine Bakhita and St Jerome Emiliani as compelling witnesses to Christian charity in action.
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Liturgical texts of February 8, 2027
The liturgical day
Mass readings
ReadingGn 1, 1-19
In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was formless and void,
darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
God said:
“Let there be light.”
And there was light.
God saw that the light was good,
and God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,”
and he called the darkness “night.”
There was evening and there was morning:
the first day.
And God said:
“Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
and let it separate the waters.”
God made the firmament,
he separated the waters that are below the firmament
from the waters that are above.
And so it was.
God called the firmament “sky.”
There was evening and there was morning:
the second day.
And God said:
“Let the waters under the sky
be gathered into one place,
and let dry land appear.”
And so it was.
God called the dry land “earth,”
and he called the mass of waters “sea.”
And God saw that it was good.
God said:
“Let the earth produce grass,
plants that bear seed,
and on the earth, fruit trees bearing fruit
according to their kind,
with seed in them.”
And so it was.
The earth produced grass,
plants that bear seed, each according to its kind,
and trees bearing fruit, each according to its kind,
with seed in them.
And God saw that it was good.
There was evening and there was morning:
the third day.
And God said:
“Let there be lights in the dome of the sky,
to separate the day from the night;
let them serve as signs
to mark the festivals, the days, and the years;
and let them be lights in the dome of the sky
to give light upon the earth.”
And so it was.
God made the two great lights:
the greater one to govern the day,
the lesser one to govern the night;
he also made the stars.
God placed them in the dome of the sky
to give light upon the earth,
to govern the day and the night,
to separate the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good.
There was evening and there was morning:
the fourth day.
– The word of the Lord.
Psalm103 (104), 1-2a, 5-6, 10.12, 24.35c
Bless the Lord, O my soul;
Lord my God, how great you are!
Clothed in splendor,
you wear light as your cloak!
You have set the earth on its foundation:
that it remains unshaken through the ages.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment:
even the waters covered the mountains.
In the valleys you make springs gush forth,
and water runs down the mountain slopes;
birds dwell by them:
in the foliage you hear their cries.
How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is filled with your riches.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
GospelMc 6, 53-56
At that time,
after they had crossed over,
and landed at Gennesaret,
Jesus and his disciples came ashore.
They got out of the boat,
and at once the people recognized Jesus.
They ran throughout the whole region
and began to bring the sick on stretchers
to wherever they heard Jesus was.
And wherever he went,
in villages, towns, or countryside,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces.
They begged him to let them touch
even the fringe of his cloak.
And all who touched it
were healed.
– Let us acclaim the Word of God.
Liturgical texts: © AELF — aelf.org