St. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai

St. Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai

Joseph de Veuster was born in 1840, the son of Belgian farmers. He and his brother, Pamphile, joined the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. These missionaries were responsible for bringing the Catholic faith to the Hawaiian Islands.  Joseph chose the name “Damien” when he entered the Sacred Hearts Congregation. Brother Damien was tall and strong. His years of helping on the family farm had given him a healthy look. Everybody liked him because he was good-natured and generous.  More missionaries were needed in the kingdom of Hawaii (Hawaii was not a state at that time). In 1864, a group of Sacred Hearts priests and brothers were chosen to go. Pamphile, Damien’s brother, was selected. Just before the departure date, Pamphile came down with typhoid fever. He could no longer consider going to the missions. Brother Damien, still studying to become a priest, asked to take his place. The father general accepted Damien’s offer. Damien went home to his family to say goodbye. Then he took the ship from Belgium to Hawaii. The voyage lasted eighteen weeks. Damien finished his studies and was ordained a priest in Hawaii. He spent nine years among the people of three districts. He traveled on horseback and by canoe.  The people loved this tall, generous priest. He saw that they responded to ceremonies. He used the little money he could raise to build chapels. He and volunteer parishioners built the chapels themselves. But the most incredible part of Damien’s life was soon to begin. The bishop asked for a volunteer priest to go to the island of Molokai. The very name struck the people with fear and dread. They knew that the section of the island called Kalawao was the “living graveyard” of people dying of leprosy. There was so much ignorance about the disease and such great fear of contagion that lepers were mostly abandoned. Many just despaired. There was no priest, no law enforcement agent on Molokai, no doctor or hospital. The Hawaiian government sent some food and medical supplies to the lepers, but it was not enough. And there was no organized way of distributing these goods.  Father Damien volunteered to go to Molokai. Faced with the poverty, corruption and despair, he felt afraid at first. But he made up his mind that for him there was no turning back. The people were desperately in need of help. He went to Honolulu to confront the members of the board of health. They told him that he could not travel back and forth to Molokai for fear of contagion. Their real reason was that they didn’t want him on Molokai. They didn’t want to be reminded that they were responsible for the lepers. So Damien had to make a choice: if he went back to Molokai, he could never leave again. The board of health didn’t know Damien. He chose Molokai.  Father Damien worked hard for eighteen years until his death on Molokai. With the help of the lepers and generous volunteers, Molokai was transformed. The word Molokai took on a whole different meaning. It became an island of Christian love. Father Damien eventually became a leper himself. He died on April 15, 1889, at the age of forty-nine and was buried on the island. He was proclaimed “blessed” by Pope John Paul II in 1994 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

  Let’s ask St. Damien to give us some of his bravery and generosity. There are so many people who need our love and support. St. Damien will help us respond to them with joy and kindness.