ST DAMIEN OF MOLOKAI | KAIROS GLOBAL | MAY 2023

Author: Jisha John

Christa: Hi Fr Damien, Peace to you!

Fr Damien: Hi dear, Shalom to you!

Christa: It’s great meeting you. A long-deferred plan. 

Fr Damien: Oh I see! And today is the day. 

Christa: Yeah, the thought of meeting you first hit me during the Covid-19 pandemic. Though I’ve read your story earlier, I had no clue about a quarantined life and how people are deserted when contagious diseases are rampant.

Fr Damien: That is a different story, a different life but still good to live it (by His grace).

Christa: I’m all ears. Tell me how it all happened. Did you have such a plan from childhood?

Fr Damien: No, I didn’t. I was born in 1840 in Belgium as the youngest child of my beloved parents, Joannes Franciscus De Veuster and Anne Catherine. Two of my sisters became nuns and my elder brother a priest. I was forced to quit schooling at the age of 13 to work on a family farm. Papa sent me for a commercial profession, but later I chose the religious vocation, inspired by mission.

Christa: Which congregation did you choose?

Fr Damien: The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. My superiors were not confident of my being a priest as I lacked education. But the Latin I learned from my brother saved me. During my religious studies, I was very fond of St Francis Xavier. I prayed before him every day. I was ordained a priest on 21 May 1864. 

Christa: Oh dearest Damien! God the Father had already decided and anointed you a priest. No one could change it. How did you go to Hawaii? How came that opportunity?

Fr Damien: Again, it was my brother, Fr Pamphile who was to go there. But he couldn’t make it and I was allowed to take his place. There were four people who volunteered to go. The bishop decide to send one at a time. And I was the first one.

Christa: Was that Bishop Louis Desire Maigret?

Fr Damien: Yes. It was him.

Christa: I came across his name when I read about you. And I still remember his words to the people, when he introduced you, ‘one who will be a father to you, and who loves you so much that he does not hesitate to become one of you; to live and die with you’. I found it so beautiful and wrote it down in my diary. And I guess it sums up the life of a priest.

Fr Damien: You are right.

Christa: How was Hawaii then? It is a place of beautiful beaches now. A wonderful destination to hang-out.

Fr Damien: Oh dear! I went to an isolated settlement in Kalaupapa. There were around 600 lepers. The native Hawaiians were infected with leprosy, small pox, cholera, influenza, syphilis and the like. To prevent the spreading of leprosy, a law was introduced that quarantined the infected. Their lives were in misery and dejection. They needed help but no one cared for them. So I became one among them and started working for their upliftment. By God’s grace, I was able to provide them medical and spiritual aid. We built a church named after Saint Philomena. We made many more houses, roads and hospitals. When I dressed their wounds, I found Christ in them. 

Christa: It isn’t easy, Fr Damien. How can one leave everything behind and live a selfless life? Apart from being a priest, you risked your life, your health. It was a contagious disease. It was like a bypass to death. You shared food with them. You spent each moment with them. I kept close watch of such things during the pandemic. You contracted the disease but still you continued to work for them. And the long 16 years of service made you sick and die. What do you say?

Fr Damien: I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all for Jesus Christ. Those people were always precious in the eyes of God. And I’m a priest of Christ. I did it for love of Him.

Christa: Jesus! Strengthen me to be selfless in giving myself.  

Fr Damien: Be strengthened. His grace is limitless and all new. 

Christa: That’s inspiring. Reveal me my mission.

Fr Damien: You are living it each day. He’s with you.

Christa: Thanks dear Father. Bye.

Fr Damien: Good bye!