Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Damien. St. Damien was born Joseph de Veuster and he was born in Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840. During that time only a few people who lived in Europe had any firsthand knowledge about leprosy disease.

When St. Damian had died at the age of 49, a lot of people all over the world started to learn more about this disease thanks to him. They ended up finding out that human compassion could soften the ravages of this disease.

St. Damien was eventually forced to quit school when he was only 13 years old. After St. Damien quit school he started to work on the family farm, St. Damien ended up entering the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary six years later, and he decided to chose the same name as a fourth-century physician and martyr.

After St. Damien’s brother Pamphile, decided to become a priest in the same congregation that he was in, Pamphile eventually fell ill and was unable to go to the Hawaiian Islands as he was assigned, due to the fact that St. Damien’s brother was ill, St. Damien quickly volunteered to take his place. During the month of May during the year 1864, two months after St. Damien had arrived at his new mission, St. Damien was ordained a priest in Honolulu and he was assigned to the island of Hawaii.

During the year 1873, St. Damian decided to go to the Hawaiian government’s leper colony which was located on the island of Moloka’i, and it was set up seven years earlier.

St. Damien was part of a team which consisted of four chaplains who had been taking the assignment he had for three months each year. However, St. Damien decided to volunteer to remain permanently, and care for all the people’s physical, medical, and spiritual needs. After he spent some time their, he became one of their most effective advocate to obtain promised government support.

Soon after the settlement had started to have new houses, a new church, school and orphanage built in it. The settlement had improved considerably. A few years later, St. Damien succeeded in getting the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, led by Mother Marianne Cope, to help staff this colony in Kalaupapa.

However, St. Damien eventually contracted leprosy disease and he ended up dying from the many complications it had caused. St. Damien died on April 15, 1889. As requested, he was later buried in Kalaupapa, but during the year 1936 the Belgian government decided to have his body be moved to Belgium. Part of St. Damien’s body was later returned to his beloved Hawaiian brothers and sisters after his beatification that occurred during the year in 1995. St. Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009.

St. Damien’s feast day is celebrated on May 10 and he is the patron saint of people with leprosy.

Prayer to St. Damien

St. Damien intercede that we may be able to help everyone that may be sick or ill regardless of how much or a risk that may put us in. St. Damien help us to pray for everyone even for those who have done wrong to us. St. Damien help us to serve others before ourselves regardless of what they have done to us.

We ask this through Christ Our Lord and Mary Our Mother in Heaven

Amen

St. Damien pray for us

St. Joseph pray for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

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Works Cited

Information (read from, not taken):

Franciscan Media. "Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i. ”Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i | Franciscan Media. Accessed 10, May 2021.

Images:

Fr. Damien. May 10, 2021. st. damien of molokai - Google Search.