Servant of God - Servant of Humanity
His LIFE
Joseph de Veuster, the future Saint Damien of Molokai, was born in Tremelo, Belgium,
on January 3, 1840, into a large family. When his oldest brother entered the
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts (called Picpus after the street
in Paris where its Generalate was located), his father, a farmer-merchant,
planned that Joseph should take charge of the family business. Joseph, however
also decided to become a religious. At the beginning of 1859, he entered the
novitiate at Louvain, in the same house as his brother, taking the name of
Damien.
In 1863, his brother, who was to leave for the mission to the Hawaiian
Islands, became ill. Since preparations for the voyage had already been made,
Damien obtained permission from the Superior General, to take his brother's
place. He arrived in Honolulu on March 19, 1864, where he was ordained to the
priesthood at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on May 21,1864. He then devoted himself, body and soul, to the difficult
service of a country missionary on the island of Hawai'i.
At that time, the Hawaiian government decided on a very harsh measure aimed
at stopping the spread of Hansen's disease: deportation to Moloka'i of all
those infected by what was thought to be an incurable disease. The Catholic Mission was concerned about the abandoned lepers and Bishop Louis Maigret,
ss.cc. spoke to the priests about the problem. He did not want to send anyone
"in the name of obedience" because he knew that such an order meant
certain death. Four brothers volunteered, they would take turns visiting and
assisting the lepers in their distress. Damien was the first to leave on May 10,
1873. At his own request and that of the lepers, he remained on Moloka'i. Having
contracted leprosy himself, he died on April 15, 1889, after serving 16 years
among the lepers. His remains were exhumed in 1936 and placed in a crypt of the
Church of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts at Louvain.
Damien is universally known for having freely shared the life of the lepers
isolated on the penisula of Kalaupapa on Moloka'i. His departure for the "cursed
isle", the announcement of his illness in 1885 and
his death deeply impressed his contemporaries of all denominations. Today, the
world continues to consider him a model and hero of charity. He who so
identified himself with the victims of leprosy to the point of being able to say
"we lepers", continues to inspire thousands of believers and
non-believers desiring to imitate him and discover the source of his heroism.
WITNESS AND SERVANT
The life of Damien reveals that his generosity constantly leads him to
persist in an initiative he recognizes as being that of Providence. The many
circumstances of his life are signs and calls leading him toward accomplishing
the will of God. In a letter to the Father General (Dec. 21, 1866), he wrote:
"Convinced that the Good God does not ask me the impossible, I go my way
without troubling myself..." So it is that, during a retreat at
Braine-le-Comte, he resolutely decides to follow the call of God to religious
life and he enters the Congregation to which his brother already belongs. His
brother's illness gives Damien the opportunity to offer his service in place of
his brother. His request is accepted and he leaves for Hawai'i. There, the Bishop
describes the plight of the lepers of Moloka'i. Damien volunteers to serve them.
Damien considers his presence among the lepers to be like that of a father
amid his children. He is aware of the risks involved in his daily contact with
the sick. Taking all reasonable precautions, he escapes contagion for more than
10 years. When he finally falls victim to the dread disease, he finds new energy
from his confidence in God and declares: "I am happy and content, and if I
were given the choice of leaving here in order to be cured. I would answer
without hesitation: I'll remain here with my lepers as long as I live."
DOCTOR WHO CARES FOR BODY AND SOUL
Urged by his desire to alleviate the sufferings of the lepers, Damien takes
an interest in the progress of medical science related to the disease. He
experiments on himself with some of the new treatments. Day after day, he cares
for the sick, dressing their hideous wounds. He comforts the dying, buries in
the cemetery he calls the "garden of the dead" those who have
completed their Calvary.
Aware of the power of the press, he does not hesitate to encourage his
correspondents, who publish books and articles about the lepers of Moloka'i. From
this was born a strong movement of solidarity to ease the condition of the sick.
His familiarity with suffering and death refines in him the meaning of life.
His peace and profound harmony communicate themselves to others. His goodness
and kindness are radiant. As he himself attests, " I do the impossible to
be always cheerful, to animate the souls of the sick." His faith, optimism
and availability touch people's hearts. All feel themselves invited to share his
joy of life, to go beyond, in faith, the limits of their misery and even to
escape in spirit from the narrow confines of their peninsular prison. They were
able to discover in their beloved Kamiano an affectionate closeness that called
them to an encounter with the God who loved them.
BUILDER OF COMMUNITY
Thanks to Damien, "the hell of Moloka'i" characterized by
selfishness, despair, and immorality is transformed into a community that
surprises even the government. With the help of the stronger lepers, he builds
houses, an orphanage, church, and other equipment for common use. They enlarge
the hospital, improve the landing and the road leading to the wharf.
Together, they lay a pipeline system to bring fresh water to the settlement.
Damien opens a store where the sick can get free provisions. He has the lepers
start vegetable gardens and begin to grow flowers. He even starts a band to help
fill their leisure hours.
Thanks to his efforts and presence, those who had been left entirely to
themselves rediscover the joy of being together. The gift of self, fidelity,
values of family life begin to take on meaning once again. Acceptance of others
out of necessity or constraint gives way to respect for all human persons, even
those horribly disfigured by leprosy. Damien teaches them that in the eyes of
God everyone is infinitely precious, because our Lord loves each one as a Father
does, and in God we are all sisters and brothers.
APOSTLE OF THE LEPERS
It is in his priestly and missionary heart that Damien hears the call to
serve the lepers. "They are very hideous to look at," he admits, but
he quickly adds, "they have souls redeemed by the adorable blood of our
Divine Savior." Through his priestly ministry, the lepers receive
much-needed spiritual help: he reconciles them with God and with one another; he
gives them the means of uniting their sufferings to those of Christ by receiving
His Body and His Blood. Through the sacraments, including baptisms, marriages
and funerals, he sought to open hearts and minds to the universal dimensions of
the Church of Christ. Rejected by society, the lepers of Moloka'i quickly learn
that their illness calls forth the solicitude of a priestly heart totally
devoted to them. "My greatest happiness is to serve the Lord in these poor
sick children, rejected by others." (Letter 86)
SOWER OF ECUMENISM
Damien was before all else a catholic missionary and also a man of his time.
While he remains convinced in his own belief, he respects the religious
convictions of others; he accepts them as persons and receives with joy their
collaboration and their help. With a heart wide open to the most abject and
miserable, he shows no difference in his approach and in his care of the lepers.
Whether in his parish ministry or his works of charity he finds a place for
everyone. Among his best friends are the Lutheran Meyer, superintendent of the
leper colony, the Anglican Clifford, the painter, the free-thinker Moritz. the
doctor on Moloka'i. the Buddhist Goto, the Japanese leprologist.
People from all creeds and from all philosophical systems recognize in him
the servant of God that he reveals himself to be and they respect his passion
for the salvation of souls.
MAN OF THE EUCHARIST
"The world of politics and of the press knows few heroes comparable to
Fr. Damien of Moloka'i. It would be very worthwhile to discover the source
inspiring so much heroism!" In this remark Gandhi summarized the deep
questions that the life of Damien pose.
We find the answer in his vocation as a religious of the Sacred Hearts.
Damien receives the grace of contemplating, living and announcing the merciful
love of God revealed in Jesus to whom the Virgin Mary leads us.
His personal experience, reinforced by the tradition of his Congregation,
leads him to find this strength at the very source of love and of life: the
Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Jesus becomes the bread of life, the living and
empowering presence of the love of God.
His imitation of Jesus urges him to identify himself with his flock. Thanks
to the love of God who never abandons us, he is able to remain faithful to the
end, enduring the cruel disease, the painful solitude, the unjust criticism, and
the misunderstanding of his own.
His testimony is incontestable: "Without the presence of our Divine
Master in my small chapel, I would never be able to sustain my life united to
that of the lepers of Moloka'i."
VOICE OF THE VOICELESS
A presence like Damien's among the world's alienated and isolated could not
fail to challenge and stir consciences. Less than two months after his death. a
Leprosy Fund was established in London, the first organization
devoted to helping the victims of this disease. "We lepers" is no
longer a stylistic term, but expresses a real identification with those who,
despite their illness, have a right to respect, dignity and love. By sharing
the lives of the lepers, by becoming a leper himself, Damien launches a vibrant
appeal for solidarity with all who run the risk of being marginalized because of
an illness, a handicap, a mistake.
HERALD OF HOPE
Damien's life and death are prophetic events. If they denounce attitudes
contrary to respect for the rights of human persons, they are also an appeal for
hope.
Today, as then, the world knows rejected persons of all kinds: the incurably
ill (victims of AIDS or other diseases), abandoned children, disoriented youths,
exploited women and men, neglected elderly people, oppressed minorities. For all
who suffer, Damien remains the voice reminding us that the infinite love of God
is full of compassion and consolation, confidence and hope is a voice that
denounces injustice. In Damien, we can all recognize the herald of the Good
News. Like the Good Samaritan, he went to the aid of those cast aside. This is
what makes Damien an example for all men and women who wish to be involved in
the struggle for a more just and more humane world, a society more conformed to the
heart of God.
Servant of God, Damien is and remains for all the servant of the human
person, the servant of a humanity that needs to live, but, even more, needs
reasons for living.
This is the Damien who challenges us even today.
