New Biography Captures the Spirit of Beloved 'Leper Priest' Saint Damien

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 22, 2010 /Christian Newswire/ -- Ignatius Press has just released a new biography about Father Damien, the priest who is famous for his missionary work with exiled lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, who is now finally Saint Damien. His sanctity took 120 years to become officially recognized, but between his death in 1889 and his canonization in 2009--amid creeping secularization and suspicion of the missionary spirit he so much embodied--Father Damien De Veuster never faded from the world's memory.

What kept him there? What keeps him there now?
To find an answer, Belgian historian and journalist Jan De Volder sifted through Father Damien's personal correspondence as well as the Vatican archives. With careful and even-handed expertise, De Volder follows Father Damien's transformation from the stout, somewhat haughty missionary of his youth, bounding from Europe to Hawaii and straight into seemingly tireless priestly work, to the humble and loving shepherd of souls who eventually succumbed to the same disease that ravaged his flock. "The Spirit of Father Damien" is illustrated with many photos of Damien throughout his life that paint a vivid picture of his work and missionary spirit.
De Volder finds that--as spiritual father, caretaker, teacher, and advocate--Father Damien accomplished many heroic feats for these poor outcasts. Yet the greatest gift he gave them was their transformation from a disordered, lawless throng exiled in desperate anarchy into a living community built on Jesus Christ, a community in which they learned to care for one another.
De Volder says, "I have known Damien since my childhood, as has every Belgian. It struck me that, even in so secularized a country as Belgium, he's still widely admired for what is seen as his humanitarian deeds for the leper-outcasts of his time. Yet, you cannot grasp the meaning of Damien's self-gift without an understanding of his deep faith and obedience: he shows that love for the Gospel, love for the Church, and love for the poor belong together. And Damien's witness has been so powerful that even today his story inspires many to live lives devoted to Jesus and the sick, the poor, and the weak."
To request a review copy or an interview with author Jan De Volder, please contact: Rose Trabbic, Publicist, Ignatius Press,  rose@ignatius.com

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

‘Traveling relic’ of St. Damien available for veneration

The reliquary made of monkeypod tree wood from a tree planted by St. Damien on Molokai. The box was made by Maui residents Edwin Ferreira and Allan Marciel.
Nov. 12th: Hawaiian Catholic Herald: The Diocese of Honolulu has a “traveling relic” of St. Damien, available for veneration wherever it is welcome.  "We are putting the word out to bishops,” Bishop Larry Silva said.   The relic is made up of bone fragments shed from another relic, a talus (ankle) bone now on permanent display in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. Bishop Silva said he was planning to send an e-mail message this month to every bishop in the country to tell them that the traveling relic is available for veneration in their dioceses.
Typically, the relic of a saint would be put on display in a church or chapel for the faithful to approach it, view it, perhaps touch the box it is in, and pray in its presence. The bishop has assigned Sacred Hearts Father Paul Zaccone as the person who “will normally be the one to take the relic to its various locations.” “He will be prepared to give talks and to lead prayers, if desired,” the bishop explained in an e-mail message. Father Zaccone will also arrange for any accompanying literature, art and religious objects that would supplement the display of the relic, the bishop said.
The relic is owned by the Diocese of Honolulu. Bishop Silva said that he would consider future requests directly from individual parishes, convents, monasteries or other church entities. The diocesan Office of Worship would handle requests. The bone fragments are held in a 6-inch by 9-inch by 4-inch reliquary of polished monkeypod wood, and are visible behind a thick oval glass window on the lid. The box is secured by a brass Louis Vuitton padlock made in Paris. It is carried in a donated 16-inch long black leather bag by Prada. The reliquary was made by two Makawao, Maui, craftsmen, Edwin Ferreira and Allan Marciel. The wood comes from a 100-year-old tree Father Damien planted on topside Molokai near the church he built in Kaluaaha, Our Lady of Seven Sorrows.
The traveling relic has already been on the road. When the bishop and Father Peter Dumag visited Hawaii’s seven seminarians at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon for two days in October, they brought the relic along. It was incorporated into the student and faculty evening prayers. The relic is now in Wisconsin, at Sacred Heart Seminary in Hales Corners, where two other Hawaii seminarians are studying. It was carried there by Father Thomas Knoebel, the seminary vice rector who was returning to Hales Corners after spending several months in Honolulu. Seminarian Nick Brown will bring the relic back to Hawaii.
According to the bishop, the transportation costs of the traveling relic will be the responsibility of the diocese or other entity that requests it. This includes coach class airfare, ground transportation, and room and board for the person accompanying the relic. The relic will always be hand-carried, the bishop said, never mailed or checked in as luggage. “The Transportation Security Administration supervisor at the Honolulu International Airport has given approval for the relic to pass through security,” Bishop Silva said. “Should any agent question it, they can be referred to TSA in Honolulu.”
The original talus bone that is the source of this relic had been in the possession of the Sacred Hearts Congregation in Belgium ever since it was unintentionally separated from the rest of Father Damien’s remains when his casket was opened there in 1956 and his bones catalogued, separated and stored in a dozen zinc boxes before being returned to his tomb. That bone, sealed under glass in a small wooden reliquary made in Belgium, was presented to Bishop Silva by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome on Oct. 12, 2009, the day after Father Damien’s canonization in St. Peter’s Basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.
While the relic was transported around the islands for veneration last year following the canonization, small pieces of it began to fall off. The bishop had a forensic specialist chemically coat the bone so it would not shed any more pieces, and the loose fragments were collected for the second relic. Yet another St. Damien relic, the remains of his right hand, lies in the priest’s original grave alongside St. Philomena Church in Kalawao, Molokai, where he was buried in 1889. Father Damien’s body was exhumed in 1936 and carried to his home country of Belgium at the request of the Belgian government. The bones of the priest’s right hand were returned to Hawaii during his beatification ceremony in Brussels, Belgium, in 1995.
By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald

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

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

A Leper on Molokai, 1880

Depicted next to Pope Pius XI and below Saint Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, is Bishop Stephen Alencastre who was the fifth Vicar Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands.

The following poem appeared in the 15^th November 2010 issue of ‘America’ magazine. 

A Leper on Molokai, 1880

To the Father and to the sea

I confess my gross being,

embrace with withered arms

our rank God

here at Kalaupapa.

My eyes dull moons,

I know the sun by its smell.

More corrupt than Lazarus

I live this death before death,

live the reciprocity of flesh.

The death of our death stuns even the sky,

wailing birds reel in the unclean air.

The cemetery at Kalawa’o

vomits our pitted bones,

and the blind sun stares.

Kalaupapa is an open tomb—

three walls of water, one of rock.

When Lazarus died, Jesus wept.

With corrupt voices we sang

Mozart. The bishop wept.

J O S E P H  S O L D A T I

JOSEPH A. SOLDATI, of Portland, Ore., has published numerous poems and essays, most recently in New Millennium Writings.

(Note: Under the direction of Father Joseph Damien de Veuster, the patients sang a Mozart Mass for the visiting bishop (vicar apostolic) on June 8, 1875)

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

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

Damien, the play, comes to North Vancouver

The Busy Catholic Blog: By now you're likely familiar with the story of Father Damien de Veuster who lived among the lepers on Molokai Island in Hawaii. (Saint Damien is the unofficial patron of those with HIV and AIDS.)

Now the play Damien is coming to North Vancouver's Presentation House Theatre, Nov. 16-28. The San Francisco Examiner says the play confronts Saint Damien's struggle with self-doubt and undying compassion towards what he originally describes as a dumping place for human beings. “Damien is a heartrending portrait of a selfless priest determined not to let the lepers think that God has abandoned them.”

Meanwhile, the other San Francisco paper, The Chronicle, has this account of a writer's experience visiting Molokai. It's worth a read.

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

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