Damien de Veuster SSCC - Leper Priest of Molokai (1840-89)

Fr. Damien, born 1840 in Tremeloo, Belgium. He joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts volunteering for the mission to the Hawaiian Islands. In 1873 he went to work as a priest in a leper colony on the island of Molokai. He died from leprosy in 1889 aged 49. The testimony of the life he lived among the lepers of Molokai led to an intensive study of Hansens disease, eventually leading to a cure. Pope John Paul II beatified Damien in 1995. He was named a saint on Oct 11th 2009.

Monday, October 26, 2009

St. Damien - Artobiography

Art is no more than a collection of pigments arranged as the artist finds useful to convey his intentions. Art at the lower end simply conveys feelings, a girl on a beach or a tranquil river. But to me, at the higher end, art must aspire to do more. The best art has always informed and challenged. Some of the greatest shapers of our societies in the past have been artists who spoke out through their medium. Artobiography is the style I have developed to do precisely that, a form of mixed media where documents and words are layered onto a canvas and then sealed before over painting with oils.
When asked to create an art piece on Damien, I immediately decided that the piece should not be painted with soft hues, for there is nothing soft about leprosy, Molokai or the life Fr Damien lived. So the paint strokes were often delivered with edges and hard areas which do not try to gently mix with their surroundings. For that reason I chose to paint the older weathered Fr Damien rather than the softer images of him as a younger man. Fr Damien had hard edges as the letter penned by Robert Louis Stevenson indicates and as an artist I have not tried to romanticise him but rather to present him as the raw hard edged hero and Saint he was. Of course no man lives as an Island and the story of words behind the face seek to articulate the larger story. Sections of Robert Louis Stevenson’s letter are included, pieces about Fr Damien, the Island of Molokai and then other spurious pieces I put together regarding the disease of leprosy, its treatment and a call for us to de-stigmatise leprosy now.
Leprosy is easily curable today and no one should die of it, yet many do. The problem with leprosy is that it is located in underdeveloped countries. If the occasional celebrity were to contract leprosy its profile would be raised and soon the funding would be assigned to eliminate it altogether. But worst of all is the attached stigma it carries. This ignoble attachment has now been assigned to many suffering from AIDS, as though the disease were not enough. This painting speaks of bigotry, hate and ignorance and as an artist I am encouraged that this latest humanitarian effort by Don Mullan will help bring relief to those suffering from AIDS in South Africa through the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. Too often HIV/AIDS sufferers experience the very same bigotry, hatred, ignorance and ostracisation that Fr Damien and the lepers of Molokai experienced. Just as the message in this painting is about de-stigmatising leprosy – so for AIDS today. Let us de-stigmatise AIDS now. A variety of conventional and artobiographical art pieces may be viewed on the artist’s website www.artobiography.co.uk
Rev. Keith Drury
Limited edition of 100 prints available. Each signed and numbered by the artist.
Size A2 (490 x 594 mm)
Price: Framed - £245
Unframed - £195 (pp included)
For postal reasons it is best shipped unframed.
Purchase online or contact artist directly:
www.artobiography.co.uk
keith@artobiography.co.uk
Mobile: 44 (0) 78 6633 9920
Tel: 44 (0) 28 91811191

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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

No comments:

Statistics of Patients on Molokai 1866-1908

Fr. Damien - SSCC Missionary (Damien's Writings)

In 1990, Fr. Patrick Bradley ss.cc., the then Superior General of Damien's Congregation, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, wrote a circular letter to all the members of the Congregation entitled: "Fr. Damien - SS.CC. Missionary" with some perspectives on the future of mission. Fr. Bradley's circular gathers together many of Damien's writings, which provide valuable insights into Damien's own life, motivation and work as a missionary. Over the course of the coming weeks, I hope to reproduce this publication which you can read by clicking on the link below.

See document - click here >>>>>>

Did You Know?
Father Damien's life and death among his people at Kalaupapa focused the attention of the world on the problem of leprosy and the plight of its victims. After Damien's death in 1889, the people of England established a fund and a commission for the scientific investigation of the disease.
Mother Marianne Cope nursed those suffering from leprosy in Hawai'i for 35 years. She arrived at Kalaupapa in 1888. Her philosophy of personal dignity in the face of death came almost a century before its adoption as the foundation of the hospice movement.
Sea cliffs rise two thousand feet above the peninsula and ocean separate Kalaupapa from the rest of the island of Moloka'i. In 1972 this area was designated as the North Shore Cliffs National Natural Landmark, recognized as a significant example of sea cliffs in the nation's natural heritage.

Bl. Damien de Veuster

Feastday: May 10th.

The Leper Priest, the Hero of Molokai. Born in Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840, he joined the Sacred Hearts Fathers in 1860. He was bomn Joseph and received the name Damien in religious life. In 1864, he was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was ordained. For the next nine years he worked in missions on the big island, Hawaii. In 1873, he went to the leper colony on Molokai, after volunteering for the assignment. Damien cared for lepers of all ages, but was particularly concerned about the children segregated in the colony. He announced he was a leper in 1885 and continued to build hospitals, clinics, and churches, and some six hundred coffins. He died on April 15, 1889 on Molokai. Slandered by a Protestant minister, Mr. Hyde, Damien was defended by Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote an impassioned defense of Damien in 1905. He was declared venerable in 1977. Pope John Paul II declared him beatified on June 4, 1995.

Bibliography:

1. "Damien of Molokai." Anderson, Gerald H. Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. New York : Macmillan Reference USA; London : Simon & Schuster and Prentice Hall International, 1998.
2. Daniel-Rops, Henri. The Heroes of God. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1965, 1958.
3. Farrow, John. Damien the Leper. Garden City, New York: Image Books, 1954.
4. Stevenson, Robert Louis. In the South Seas. New York: Scribners, 1911.

Edward Clifford. Father Damien: A Journey from Cashmere to His Home in Hawaii. London and New York: Macmillan. 1889. 352pp.
Piers Compton. Father Damien. London: Alexander Ouseley. 1933. 196pp.
Gavan Daws. Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai. New York: Harper & Row. 1973. 293pp.
Charles J. Dutton. The Samaritans of Molokai: The Lives of Father Damien and Brother Dutton Among the Lepers. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. 1932. 286pp.
Omer Englebert. The Hero of Molokai: Father Damien, Apostle of the Lepers. St. Paul Editions. 1962. 364pp. Translation of Le pére Damien.
Hilde Eynikel. Molokai: The Story of Father Damien. Hodder & Stoughton. 2001. 324pp.
John Farrow. Damien: The Leper. Sheed & Ward. 1937. 230pp.
Vital Jourdan. The Heart of Father Damien, 1840-1889. Guild Press. 1960. 500pp. Translation of Le père Damien de Veuster, apôtre des lépreux.
Ann Roos. Man of Molokai: The Life of Father Damien. J. B. Lippincott. 1943. 254pp.
Philibert Tauvel. Father Damien: Apostle of the Lepers of Molokai, Priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. Art and Book Co.. 1904. 206pp.