"On May 10, 1873, the steamer Kilauea deposited 33 year old Fr. Damien de Veuster on the landing at Kalaupapa, Molokai'.The above short biography of Blessed Damien of Moloka'i, was read to us at the candlelight vigil honoring Fr. Damien. It was read by the vice-postulator Sacred Heart Sister Helene Wood.
A man of enormous activity, Damien vigorously tackled every need that he saw. He cleaned wounds, bandaged ulcers, even amputated gangrenous limbs. When a hurricane destroyed the exiles' shabby huts, Damien petitioned the Board of Health for lumber and built three hundred houses for the sick. He laid a pipeline to a distant spring to supply water for the settlement, administered the sacraments, dug graves, built water for the settlement, administered the sacraments, dug graves, built coffins and said funeral Masses.
After eleven years at Kalawao, it became evident that Damien himself had contracted leprosy. In 1888, Mother Marianne and her Franciscan Sisters arrived to open a home for girls. By then Damien also had the help of two priests as well as Joseph Dutton, a lay volunteer.
On April 15, 1889, Damien died. In 1977, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Sacred Hearts missionaries in Hawai'i, Pope Paul VI declared Damien venerable.
On June 4, 1995, Pope John Paul II beatified Damien in Brussels, Belgium. Currently, the case for Blessed Damien's sainthood is being studied by the Cardinals and Bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of saint."
Hawaii Bishop Larry Silva said at the vigil that sainthood for Blessed Damien is "imminent"!
Mahalo to Padre Steve for the following video:
The candlelight vigil was held on May 9th because on the actual feast day, Bishop Larry Silva as well as some of the Sacred Hearts Fathers and Sisters will be on Kalapapa to commemorate the 100th anniversary of St. Francis' church.
A novena for Blessed Damien as well as more pictures can be found at Catholic Homeschooling in Hawaii
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