My Thoughts 10/05/2022
Today we celebrate the feast of Joseph de Veuster, who took the name Damian when he joined the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary. He was born in Belgium and in May 1864 he was ordained as a priest in Honolulu and was assigned to the island of Hawaii.
At that time many native people of Hawaii suffered from infectious diseases such as leprosy, (Hansens disease) smallpox, cholera, influenza, and syphilis that were brought in by traders sailors and immigrants. In 1865 out of fear that leprosy was a contagious disease the “Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy” was passed which required leapers to be quarantined on the island of Molokai.
Fr Damian was one of four volunteers sent by the Bishop of the Honolulu diocese. He arrived at the isolated settlement of Kalaupapa on 10th May 1873 where there were then 600 leapers. Damien worked with them to build a church and establish the Parish of Saint Philomena. In addition to serving as a priest, he dressed residents’ ulcers, built a reservoir, built homes and furniture, made coffins, and dug graves. Six months after his arrival he wrote to his brother “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ”
He contracted Hansen’s disease. He was bedridden on 23 March 1889, and on 30 March, he made a general confession. Damien died of leprosy at 8:00 a.m. on 15 April 1889, at the age of 49. He was canonised in 2009.
After his death, critics felt that in focusing on Damian, the work of others was not acknowledged. One Protestant clergyman, De Hythe, wrote that Damian was guilty of immoral behaviour. The author Robert Louis Stevenson vigorously defended him in an “open Letter to Dr Hythe. When he was canonised, the then President Barack Obama affirmed his deep admiration for St. Damien, saying that he gave voice to the voiceless and dignity to the sick.
“Holiness is not perfection according to human criteria; it is not reserved for a small number of exceptional persons. It is for everyone; it is the Lord who brings us to holiness, when we are willing to collaborate in the salvation of the world for the glory of God, despite our sin and sometimes our rebellious temperament.” (Pope St John Paul II Homily at the beautification of Fr Damian.
