Pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world!

Pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

St. Damien de Veuster



It is with great joy that I add Fr. Damien de Veuster to my Roman Catholic Heroes Blog.  Today was the canonization of Hawaii's First Saint who was a true hero for going to Molokai to live on the leper island.  The lepers at the time had no priest living there on the island with them and many died without one to hear their confession or give them the last rites of the church.  Not only did Fr. Damien volunteer to be their priest but he also helped them build churches, homes, nurse their wounds, police the area and chastise those who used children to satisfy their own lust and more.  See the history of Fr. Damien here.

If you have not seen the one man play, check out Aldyth Morris' Damien, with Terrence Knapp as Damien.  I've watched it many times and it is a story of love, hope, and the courage of one priest who right away talked to the lepers by saying, "we lepers" until one day he did become a leper.  By helping them get food, clothing, shelter, and better medical and living conditions,  Fr. Damien's kindness and concern for their welfare brought them to our Lord and God, Jesus Christ.  Many, including protestant ministers, converted to the Catholic Church as well. Although many praised him, he had problems with the clergy and detractors too.   May we all be reminded in our trials and tribulations that like Fr. Damien, we need to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us.  Aloha, St. Damien!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello,
I just wanted to say that I too saw the movie about St. Damien de Veuster. It was such a wonderful movie, they should make more of these movies about Catholic Heroes. What you wrote on your blog describing his life just brought tears to my eyes.

Thank you so much,
JP