St. Damien of Molokai

St. Damien shared the isolated life of people with Hansen's disease on Molokai, serving their spiritual and physical needs until the disease claimed him.

The story

Jozef De Veuster was born on January 3, 1840, in Tremelo, Belgium. He entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and took the religious name Damien. In 1863, his brother Pamphile, who had been assigned to the Hawaiian mission, became ill. Damien received permission to take his place. He reached Honolulu in 1864 and was ordained a priest there on May 21.

At that time, the Hawaiian government forcibly isolated people diagnosed with Hansen's disease, then commonly called leprosy, on the Kalaupapa Peninsula of Molokai. Bishop Louis Maigret sought priests willing to serve there in rotation. Damien volunteered and arrived on May 10, 1873. With the bishop's permission, he eventually remained. He lived among people who had been separated from their families and burdened by illness, poverty, and social rejection.

Damien celebrated Mass, heard confessions, visited the sick, dressed wounds, built coffins, and helped bury the dead. He improved water supplies and housing and encouraged residents to build a more ordered community. He enlarged St. Philomena Church and organized schools and charitable assistance. His work depended upon the cooperation of residents, religious sisters, lay workers, and benefactors. He nevertheless became the settlement's best-known advocate and repeatedly appealed for needed supplies and medical care.

In 1884, Damien recognized signs that he had contracted Hansen's disease. He continued his ministry as his health declined. He died at Kalaupapa on April 15, 1889, at the age of forty-nine. His remains were returned to Belgium in 1936, while a relic was later returned to Molokai. St. John Paul II beatified him in Brussels in 1995. Pope Benedict XVI canonized him on October 11, 2009. His optional memorial in the United States is observed on May 10, the anniversary of his arrival at Kalaupapa.

What Damien teaches

St. Damien teaches that every sick or excluded person bears the image of God and deserves friendship, reverence, and concrete care. Charity requires more than sympathy because it enters another person's suffering and remains faithful. Christ identifies himself with those in need, as taught in Matthew 25:40 and CCC 2447.

Patronage

people with Hansen's disease, people with HIV or AIDS, health-care workers, Hawaii.

Prayer

Merciful Father, you strengthened St. Damien to recognize Christ in those whom society rejected. Through his intercession, give us courage to draw near to the sick, the lonely, and the forgotten. Make our service patient, respectful, and faithful to the end. Amen.