Damien de veuster biography inspirational
Father Damien
Belgian Roman Catholic priest and saint (–)
Not to be confused with Father Damien Karras.
For other people with similar names, see Father Damien (disambiguation), Saint Damien (disambiguation), and Peter Damian.
Saint Damien of Molokai SSCC | |
|---|---|
A photograph of Father Damien taken shortly before his death | |
| Born | ()3 January Tremelo, Brabant, Belgium |
| Died | 15 April () (aged&#;49) Kalaupapa, Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi |
| Venerated&#;in | Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, some churches of Anglican Communion; individual Lutheran Churches |
| Beatified | 4 June , Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Koekelberg), Brussels, by Pope John Paul II |
| Canonized | 11 October , Vatican City, by Pope Benedict XVI |
| Major shrine | Leuven, Belgium (bodily relics) Molokaʻi, Hawaii (relics of his hand) |
| Feast | 10 May (Catholic Church; obligatory in Hawaii, option in the rest of the United States); 15 April (Episcopal Church of the United States) |
| Patronage | People with Leprosy |
Signature of Father Damien | |
Father Damien or Saint Damien of MolokaiSSCC or Saint Damien De Veuster (Dutch: Pater Damiaan or Heilige Damiaan van Molokai; 3 January – 15 April ), born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholicpriest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionaryreligious institute. He was recognized for his ministry, which he led from until his death in , in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi to people with leprosy (Hansen's disease), who lived in government-mandated medical quarantine in a settlement on the Kalaupapa Peninsula of Molokaʻi.
During this time, he taught the Catholic faith to the people of Hawaii. Father Damien also cared for the patients and established leaders within the community to build houses, schools, roads, hospitals, and churches. He dressed residents' ulcers, built a reservoir, made coffins, dug graves, shared pipes, and ate p We continue our series of Remarkable Belgians by looking at the life of compassion and service of Father Damien of Molokai. Father Damien, also known as Saint Damien of Molokai, was a remarkable priest whose life was dedicated to serving the most marginalized and forgotten individuals in society. His legacy is one of compassion, selflessness, and unwavering devotion to the suffering. Born Jozef De Veuster on January 3, , in Tremelo, Belgium, he would become an iconic figure in the history of humanitarianism and a beacon of hope for those afflicted by a devastating disease. His life and legacy continue to inspire countless individuals worldwide, serving as a testament to the transformative power of love and service. The journey of Father Damien into a life of service and compassion began in his early years when he joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (the Picpus Fathers). He took the religious name Damien, a reference to Saint Damien of Alexandria. From that moment, his life was committed to following the teachings of Christ. In , he was ordained a priest, and soon after, he expressed his desire to embark on a missionary journey. His dream was to serve in the distant Hawaiian Islands, where his brother was already working as a priest. Upon his arrival in Hawaii in , Father Damien came face-to-face with a society grappling with significant challenges. The indigenous Hawaiian population was suffering from the devastating impact of diseases introduced by Western contact. Leprosy, now known as Hansen’s disease, was particularly rampant. People afflicted with leprosy were subjected to extreme social ostracism, forced to live in isolation on the remote island of Molokai. The situation was dire, and there was a desperate need for someone to provide not only spiritual guidance but also medical care and comfort to the afflicted. It was in thi "His cassock was worn and faded, his hair tumbled like a school-boy’s, his hands stained and hardened by toil; but the glow of health was in his face, the buoyancy of youth in his manner; while his ringing laugh, his ready sympathy, and his inspiring magnetism told of one who in any sphere might do a noble work, and who in that which he has chosen is doing the noblest of all works. This was Father Damien." No person is as central to the history of Kalawao and Kalaupapa as Joseph De Veuster, or, as he is best known to the world, Father Damien. He arrived during the early days of Kalawao’s history, when people with Hansen’s disease were being rounded up throughout the Hawaiian Islands and shipped to the isolated settlement on Moloka`i. Joseph De Veuster was born in Tremeloo, Belgium, in Like his older brother Pamphile, Joseph became a priest in the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. Pamphile was to serve as a missionary in the far distant "Sandwich Islands," but when it came time for him to depart he was too ill to go. His brother Joseph went in his place. He arrived in Honolulu on March 19, There he was ordained in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on May 21 and took the name of Damien. His first calling was on the big island of Hawai`i, where he spent eight years. He often traveled great distances to minister to the people of his districts of Puna, followed by Kohala and Hamakua. In he learned of the need for priests to serve the Hansen’s disease victims confined on the island of Moloka`i. He and three other priests volunteered to go in succession. Damien was the first, and soon he was on a boat carrying cattle and 50 patients bound for Kalawao. Damien was the most famous but not the first caregiver or religious worker to arrive at Kalawao. He followed Congregational ministers, Catholic priests, Mormon elders, and family and friends of patients who wen Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i’s Story When Joseph de Veuster was born in Tremelo, Belgium, in , few people in Europe had any firsthand knowledge of leprosy, Hansen’s disease. By the time he died at the age of 49, people all over the world knew about this disease because of him. They knew that human compassion could soften the ravages of this disease. Forced to quit school at age 13 to work on the family farm, Joseph entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary six years later, taking the name of a fourth-century physician and martyr. When his brother Pamphile, a priest in the same congregation, fell ill and was unable to go to the Hawaiian Islands as assigned, Damien quickly volunteered in his place. In May , two months after arriving in his new mission, Damien was ordained a priest in Honolulu and assigned to the island of Hawaii. In , he went to the Hawaiian government’s leper colony on the island of Moloka’i, set up seven years earlier. Part of a team of four chaplains taking that assignment for three months each year, Damien soon volunteered to remain permanently, caring for the people’s physical, medical, and spiritual needs. In time, he became their most effective advocate to obtain promised government support. Soon the settlement had new houses and a new church, school and orphanage. Morale improved considerably. A few years later, he succeeded in getting the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, led by Mother Marianne Cope, to help staff this colony in Kalaupapa. Damien contracted Hansen’s disease and died of its complications. As requested, he was buried in Kalaupapa, but in the Belgian government succeeded in having his body moved to Belgium. Part of Damien’s body was returned to his beloved Hawaiian brothers and sisters after his beatification in When Hawaii became a state in , it selected Damien as one of its two representa
Introduction to Father Damien
Early years
Arrival in Hawaii
Ministering to leprosy patients
- Charles Warren Stoddard, who visited Kalawao in Before Kalaupapa
Father Damien Arrives
Saint Damien de Veuster of Moloka’i
Saint of the Day for May 10
(January 3, – April 15, )