Helping the Lepers

Blessed Damien the Leper

By Gwen Wise (used with permission)

Blessed Damien the Leper
Died (His feast day when canonized): April 15, 1989
Patron (When he is declared a saint): probably lepers, possibly HIV/Aids sufferers
Declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1994

Based on "Damien the Leper" by John Farrow. Robert Louis Stevenson also wrote about Blessed Damien in a rebuttal to a jealous, gossipy attack by a protestant preacher in a letter to another minister.

I've been reading a biography of Damien the Leper and it has got to be the most adventurous, exciting biography of a saint I've read in a long time.

Fr. Damien was born and raised in Belgium. As a young seminarian, he was refused permission to go as a missionary to Hawaii, until his brother fell ill and he was then chosen to go in his place. When he arrived on the islands he was given a large parish which he was very successful at converting.

There was one dark night when he heard the drums of a satanic ritual. Well, he got up and walked through the pitch dark jungle toward the noise and when he arrived at the cave he looked in to see a dog being sacrificed. As he watched, the witch doctor pulled out a voodoo doll of Fr. Damien. Father marched right into that cave to the astonishment of all the men there, snatched the doll and proceeded to rip it up and stomp on it. The men were so amazed that he did not self-destruct right there, that they never were tempted to worship anything but the True God again. Can you imagine courage like this?

When Fr. Damien volunteered to go minister to the leper colony on the island of Molokai, he knew he would never be able to leave there. The treatment of these poor, poor people is not to be believed. They were removed from their spouses, children, etc. and dropped off on the island with barely anything. The government figured they could grow their own food despite the fact that anyone in the advanced stages of leprosy has few of their fingers or toes.

Father's love for these people was so complete and so pure it is like reading about Jesus on the Cross. Of course, that's why he's a saint. He never showed one look of surprise when he first beheld their deformities or hesitated for a moment to dress their wounds, share their meals, or bury them. He built the coffins by himself and gave the dead dignified burials. More than one funeral a day was not unusual.

While he was a thorn in the side of the health department because of his constant demands on behalf of his lepers, the tender care Fr. Damien showed to the outcasts transformed their lives so completely .

He slept under a tree for several weeks while he built huts, a church and clinics. He was incredibly strong and could build entire buildings by himself working nonstop day and night. In fact, the effort required for half the things he did was superhuman. Although the lepers were still sick and suffering, they came to know their God given worth and the love of the Father. Morals and morale were both vastly improved.

The most touching events came out of Father's love for the lepers and their love for him. The funerals turned into processions of music and joy; for the hope of resurrection was now with them. Groups formed for the purpose of happy feasting; there were torch bearers for processions, a band, and a choir.

Anyone arriving on the island was treated like royalty. Indeed, the queen herself arrived for an hour visit and ended up staying all day and night, enjoying the extreme friendliness and hospitality typical of the residents of Molokai. She wept sorrowfully her entire trip home.

Of course Fr. Damien did get leprosy. He knew he would and long after he could barely walk he was still keeping up his frantic pace of building, planning, begging supplies, and saying Mass for his beloved lepers. He was only able to relax and die peacefully after knowing his replacements would carry on his work and the lepers would never be abandoned. April 15th, 2009 will be the 120th anniversary of his death.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Mozlink

Father Damien's Canonization a Step Closer

Sunday, June 08, 2008: The Vatican has recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Belgian Blessed Damien de Veuster, known as the apostle of lepers in Molokai, Hawaii. Father Bruno Benati, general postulator of Father Damien's cause, announced earlier this month that the Congregation for Saints' Causes ruled that a Hawaiian woman’s cure from cancer was a miracle linked to her prayers to Father Damien (1840-1889). This moves the blessed one step closer to being declared a saint.

The priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary revealed in a letter sent to his congregation that Audrey Toguchi was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer. "During her sickness, Toguchi was visited by the brothers and sisters of the Sacred Hearts who invited her to personally direct herself to the intercession of Blessed Damien: She prayed with faith and got her family and friends to pray for her," said Father Benati. The priest reported the words of the cured woman: "He was central to my prayers: from May 1, 1997, until Jan. 19, 2004, my prayers were directed to God exclusively through Blessed Damien. I am convinced that the miraculous disappearance of cancer is due to the intercession of Blessed Damien.' "Fathaer Benati added, "The medics who have examined this healing are all in agreement that it was 'extranatural and not exceptional.' Toguchi today enjoys perfect and full health."

Born Jozef De Veuster, he entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Leuven, Belgium, and took the name Damianus -- Damiaan in Dutch -- in his first vows. Damien was sent as a missionary to Honolulu in 1864, and shortly afterward was ordained a priest. Father Damien worked for several years in Hawaii before asking for permission to be assigned to Kalaupapa, a leprosy settlement on the island of Molokai. He arrived on May 10, 1873.

His first task was to build a Church and establish the Parish of St. Philomena. Besides his responsiblities as pastor, the priest also attended to the lepors medical needs, built homes and beds, and even coffins and dug graves. He is also attributed with being a great leader of the community, who enforced laws and organized farms and schools. Father Damien was 49 when he died of leprosy on April 15, 1889. He was declared blessed in 1995. The priest could be canonized as early as this year.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Mozlink

Ecuador Blog #3 - Damien House

For further information on Damien House in Ecuador click here >>>>>>

Blessed Damien of Molokai

Blessed Damien’s canonization cause studied by Vatican official during recent Hawaii visit

HONOLULU, Hawaii 12 Dec. 2007 (Hawaii Catholic Herald) - An official of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints was in Hawaii recently to interview the Honolulu woman who has claimed to be cured of cancer through the intercession of Blessed Damien of Molokai.

INVESTIGATION – Msgr. Robert J. Sarno, a U.S. official at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints, visited Hawaii in late November to interview a woman who claimed to have been healed miraculously of cancer due to the intercession of Blessed Damien de Veuster, the 19th-century “leper priest” of Molokai.

Msgr. Robert J. Sarno, a U.S. official at the Congregation who visited Hawaii the last week of November, also spoke to members of the woman’s family and Father Christopher Keahi, the Hawaii superior of the Sacred Hearts Fathers.

According to Father Keahi, who reported the visit in his Sacred Heart Congregation newsletter, Msgr. Sarno’s visit was official but low key, and his findings confidential. The visit follows the unanimous Oct. 18 ruling by the medical commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints that the cure of the woman more than a decade ago was a “miracle,” that is, unexplainable according to available medical knowledge. A commission of theologians still has to determine whether or not the miracle was due to Blessed Damien’s intercession. Following that, the congregation’s bishops and cardinals give the final approval and recommendation of canonization to the pope.

Father Keahi said that Msgr. Sarno hopes to present his “findings” to the theologians “in January or February.” According to Father Keahi, although Damien spent his entire priestly ministry in the Kingdom of Hawaii, the diocese that is the primary promoter, or “actor causae,” of Blessed Damien’s canonization is the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels in his homeland of Belgium where he is buried. Likewise, he noted, the “actor causae” of Blessed Marianne Cope is the Diocese of Syracuse, N.Y., her original home and final resting place.

Because the unexplained cure that may lead to Father Damien’s canonization occurred in Hawaii, it was the responsibility of the Diocese of Honolulu to first examine it. That cure was the disappearance of cancer, without treatment, from the lungs of a Honolulu woman. The case was first documented by Dr. Walter Y.M. Chang, the woman’s physician, in an article he wrote for the October 2000 Hawaii Medical Journal. The doctor, not a Catholic, stated that the “lung metastases disappeared with no therapy at all,” over several months following prayers to Blessed Damien and pilgrimages to Kalaupapa by the patient. A diocesan tribunal, convened by Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, declared on April 16, 2003, that the healing was dramatic and defied medical explanation. A previous miracle needed for Father Damien’s beatification took place in France. Father Damien was beatified in Brussels in 1995.
By Patrick Downes
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Mozlink

Fr. Damien closer to Sainthood

Clerical Whispers Oct. 27th. 2007: Father Damien DeVeuster, the Belgian priest who ministered Hansen’s disease (leprosy) patients at Kalaupapa, Molokai, and later died of the disease, has moved closer to sainthood. A commission of five doctors scrutinizing an alleged medical cure attributed to Damien has reported that the woman’s healing was dramatic and defied medical explanation, said Patrick Downes, Catholic Diocese of Honolulu spokesman. The woman was reported cured of lung cancer about 10 years ago after making a pilgrimage to Kalaupapa and praying to Damien.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts Order (SS.CC) that Damien belonged to was informed of the medical commission’s decision, Downes said, describing it as “a significant step forward.” Two miracles are needed to be considered for sainthood. The first one attributed to Damien occurred in 1895 when a French nun dying of a gastrointestinal illness miraculously recovered after beginning a novena or Catholic ritual to Damien. He was beatified in 1995, 100 years after the first miracle.

A commission of theologians now must determine whether the alleged second miracle was done through the intercession of Damien, Downes said. If the commission determines that Damien was involved, a commission of bishops and cardinals will review the case and make a recommendation to the pope, he said. The process may take about a year, Downes added.

Damien came to Hawaii from Belgium in 1864, joining other missionaries of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He died at age 49 in 1889 of leprosy after ministering to people of Kalaupapa for 16 years.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Mozlink

The Island of Molokai

Mokokai is one of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific. Collectively the islands constitute one of the States of the United States. The capitol is Honolulu, located on the big island of Hawaii. As you can see from the map on the left, Molokai is slightly to the left of center of the islands. The map on the right is of Molokai itself. You can see the little finger sticking out from the center of the map on the Northern shoreline. This little strip of land, part of the Kalaupapa National Park, is separated from the main island by a sheer cliff which brings you up to the main island. The picture at the top, taken from the main part of the island above, shows this small strip of land. The leper colony in which Damien served his beloved lepers was confined to this little finger of land. The lepers were prohibited from going up the sheer cliff and lived out their lives in this very confined space. In this way, the authorities guaranteed that the leprosy sufferers were completely segregated from the rest of the inhabitants of the island. (See Utube video below - the Mule ride video gives you an idea of the vast cliff on Molokai)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Mozlink

Blessed Damien: The Belgian missionary lived among lepers in the Pacific and died from leprosy in 1889
May 2nd. 2008 (Mail on Sunday) - The Vatican today cleared the way for the canonisation of the unofficial patron saint of HIV/Aids sufferers. Theologians have ruled that a Hawaiian woman was inexplicably cured from lung cancer as a result of praying at the graveside of Blessed Damien de Veuster, a Belgian missionary. His cause now needs only to be rubber-stamped by the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints and given the nod from Pope Benedict XVI before he can be declared a saint. His canonisation, expected later this year, will draw hundreds of thousands of supporters to Rome because of the huge following that has grown around Father Damien since his death more than a century ago.

The Belgian missionary, who died in 1889, became famous for living among lepers in the Pacific islands - only to die from leprosy himself. He has been adopted by many HIV/AIDS sufferers as their unofficial patron saint because they feel stigmatised by their disease in the same way lepers were in previous centuries. He is also the patron saint of Hawaii, where his statue stands outside the state parliament building. After a poll in Belgium in 2005 Father Damien was named “the Greatest Belgian throughout Belgian History”. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Brussels in 1995 following the first of two "miracles" needed to declare him a saint.

The second miracle is said to have come after Audrey Toguchi, now 80, who had aggressive lung cancer, prayed for healing at his graveside in Molokai, Hawaii. She had been strongly advised to undergo chemotherapy but refused, telling doctors that she wanted to instead pray to Blessed Damien, whom she had admired since a child. The cancer disappeared without treatment. The case was documented by Dr Walter Chang, the woman's doctor, who is not a Catholic, in the October 2000 issue of the Hawaii Medical Journal.

Father Damien, a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, died in1889 at the age of 49. He had been working with lepers segregated on to a colony on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, knowing all along he would eventually contract and die from the disease, for which at the time there was no known cure. Hawaii's other candidate for sainthood is Blessed Marianne Cope, Father Damien's successor in Kalaupapa, who was beatified in 2005.
By SIMON CALDWELL
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Mozlink