Blessed Isidore Bakanja

I was born in Africa, in what today is the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was baptised at the age of eighteen after receiving instruction from missionaries and  took every chance to share my faith with others. I first worked as a bricklayer for white colonists. Then I left my native village and went to work on a Belgian plantation. Surprisingly, many of the Belgian agents were atheists. They strongly objected to my faith in God. My supervisor ordered me to stop teaching fellow workers how to pray, and to remove my pendant of Mary. But I simply cannot keep silent about what is in my heart, and how could I let down my mother Mary? My superior ordered me to be beaten severely, and I was left with deep wounds in my body. A kind inspector took me to his home for treatment, but my condition had worsened, and no medication could help me anymore. I died on the feast of the Assumption, in 1909, after receiving the last sacraments, and forgiving my aggressors.